Realizing
by The Plotsman
Summary: Naruto has always dreamed of being the best ninja the world has or will ever know. Upon realizing his dream, he's thrust away from his own world and into a strange and brave new world. Bereft of his dream and his loved ones, Naruto will have to make a name for himself in this new place and find a new dream.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

From the moment Naruto had heard of the grand exploits of the Fourth Hokage, he knew he was destined to surpass them.

It was more than the idle dream of a child. It was more than a wish for greatness and glory. It was a feeling that permeated every fiber of his being. Naruto knew with complete certitude; he would surpass the Fourth, he would become the greatest ninja that had and would ever live.

Of course, he'd had a rough start. He was a scruffy kid that, for whatever reason, nobody could tolerate. No one would teach him and his early life consisted of mostly barely concealed glares and an all-consuming coldness that radiated from the villagers like heat from the sun.

The deck was stacked against Naruto from the beginning. He had neither a clan nor a family. He had no friends and no loved ones. What he did have was guts. He had the kind of single-minded determination known only to mules and men who didn't know when to stop. Life knocked Naruto down and he got back up and blew a raspberry in life's face. Naruto had failed the ninja exam twice before he passed; both those times he refused to acknowledge his failure for more than a few hours before he was back at the training ground, throwing kunai at posts and attempting (and failing) to make the thrice damned clone that was his downfall every time.

By the time he was thirteen, Naruto had made a name for himself amongst the promising ninja of his generation. He'd survived a confrontation against an A-ranked ninja, he'd defended the village from Gaara, and he'd managed to learn one of the Fourth's signature techniques, the Rasengan. When he left on his journey with Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, he was on the fast track to accomplishing his dream. More than getting a date with his precious Sakura, more than bringing back Sasuke, and even more than becoming Hokage, his dream of surpassing the Fourth was in reach, he could almost taste the satisfaction.

And then came the training trip. By the time Naruto returned from the three year trip, he was so certain in his own ability, he'd be willing to take on Orochimaru himself. He was disappointed when he realized that while he was off with the old pervert, his enemies had been training too. Naruto's return to the village was met with a myriad of new and dangerous enemies.

The Akatsuki who were determined to take the demon sealed inside of him by the Fourth himself. He was hounded by them for the most part of a year. Each battle escalated in intensity as did his training. By the time the final battle with Pain, the leader, rolled around, Naruto was a sage in his own right, following in the steps of his sensei before him. He'd defeated Pain and saved the village. He was loved unanimously and he felt content. Naruto knew that if he hadn't outright surpassed the Fourth, he had to at least have reached equal footing.

And then everything he knew, all of his hard work, determination, and training was put to the test with the beginning of the Fourth Great Shinobi War. He'd been sequestered away at the beginning, he'd been taught to harness the power of the Kyuubi and he'd become more powerful than ever before. Naruto had reached his dream, his destiny, of surpassing the Fourth, but he still wasn't the best. That title was apparently held by the masked man, the one who called himself Tobi.

Tobi, who had raised an army of the dead to fight for him. Tobi, a man who by himself knew more space-time techniques and a sheer number of jutsu than Naruto even knew existed. Tobi was better than him and, to top it off, he was threatening Naruto's friends. This was it. Naruto had surpassed the Fourth, this much had been told to him by the man himself in the Seal, now all that was left was to beat this man, this villain, and he would be the best. There would remain no doubt that he was the best ninja alive.

When Naruto had finally fought his way through the army of the dead and the Zetsu clones that accompanied them, he was met with Tobi and the fight of his life.

The result was a blistering loss.

It seemed the masked man had an answer for every trick in Naruto's arsenal. When faced with the combined might of Naruto and the Kyuubi, Tobi didn't flinch. He was slippery as a buttered bar of soap and hit like a truck, to boot. When death was all but certain, Naruto was only saved by the timely intervention of the remaining Kage, Gai, and Rock Lee. It was a blow to his pride as a ninja and an affirmation that his raw power and brute strength would not be enough to defeat this foe.

Over the next year Naruto kicked his training regimen up several notches. He'd started to train in taijutsu with Gai and Rock Lee, even adopting their weight training program of wearing an absurd amount of weight on themselves at all times. He'd trained his jutsu and tactics with Kakashi and had learned to truly look underneath the underneath. He'd pestered Shikamaru until he'd finally agreed to help learn to set the traps within traps within traps that Shikamaru could orchestrate on the fly. And he had sparred with the Kage, no holds barred, in an effort to cram as much experience into himself as he could before he confronted Tobi again.

That's not to say Tobi was silent during this time. His army of the dead had been sealed away, one of his main sources for new soldiers in Kabuto had been killed, but he still had Zetsu and he made liberal use of his clones to raid small villages and cities alike in an attempt to draw Naruto out. He was driven back most of the time considering he had no interest in holding an actual city and his army needed no resources. He was content to stick to hit and run tactics until his prey reared his head.

And the day finally came. One year after their first confrontation, Naruto was allowed to respond personally to another of Tobi's raids. The Kages had decided Naruto was ready. His training had been grueling, and he was at his peak.

The battle that followed shook mountains. It was unlike any fight seen by the ninja that witnessed it. The immense power of Naruto, his sage training, and his partnership with the Kyuubi faced off against the awe-inspiring might of the Rinnegan and Sharingan combination. It lasted a full twelve hours, Naruto using every new jutsu, every new trick, and every iota of his vast power to try to destroy Tobi, and Tobi himself using every time-space trick he knew to escape harm while using his Rinnegan and Sharingan to throw immensely powerful bloodline techniques at his opponent.

In the end it had been extremely close, but Naruto's power, stamina, and sheer determination had won out. Tobi had grown tired and sloppy and had taken an Odama Rasengan head-on. And so it was that Naruto stood above his dying adversary, victorious. A sense of triumph filled him in that moment. A feeling of sheer elation. He'd done it. He was the best, the strongest, the top dog. He'd protected his village, his world, and had proven himself the most accomplished ninja the world would likely ever see.

At that moment a single thought entered his mind, "I'm so awesome!"

But it seemed like Tobi wasn't done. He needed to get his final word in. He took off his mask revealing a face that Naruto had only seen once before, in a picture Kakashi had shown him of his old team. Back when he was still a lowly genin.

Uchiha Obito was alive, it seemed. Alive for as long as it took him to succumb to his wounds. And he had something to say.

"You've done well to defeat me Naruto. I never thought my end would come at the hands of a child. And the son of my old sensei, no less." He chuckled, followed closely by a bloody cough.

"I've hated this world for a long time. It took Rin from me and it took my dreams. My plan, our plan, was so simple. We would cast the image of the Sharingan on the moon, we would cast a perfect illusion, make a perfect world. No war, no strife, we could all be with our loved ones again. I could be with Rin and Kakashi, you could be with your mother and father. A world of infinite happiness."

"A world built on a lie!" Countered Naruto, who had taken a seat on a nearby pile of rubble to catch his breath after the lengthy fight.

"What's a lie if it makes the lives of those you love better? I was offering a world of peace, of happiness, a world where no child would ever have to go hungry, no boy would ever have to murder his whole family at the behest of his superiors... where I wouldn't have to see the woman I loved killed by my best friend in front of my own eyes..." Tobi trailed off, a look of melancholy on his face.

"But these things happen! That's life!" Exclaimed Naruto. "My parents died and I had a demon sealed in my gut, the village hated me for most of my life, but I didn't complain. I worked hard and took my happiness!"

"And what of the children that never had the chances you did?" Tobi asked. His breath was becoming shallower and the adrenalin that had kept him going as long as he had seemed to be winding down. "Those children, those who never had a chance, they couldn't take their happiness, they didn't have the strength and the world certainly wasn't doing them any favors. I envisioned a world where everyone had a chance, everyone had loved ones and no one would take them away. It was my dream..." His speech seemed to be winding down and Naruto sat listening with bated breath. "And to the boy - no, the man that killed that dream... I give only... death."

Naruto was on his feet as soon as the last word was out of his mouth, but he was already too late. He'd let down his guard to give his enemy his last words. The battle had left him sluggish and slow, and his decency was about to cost him his life.

"Kamui." Tobi had used his dying breath and the final bit of his energy on this, his final technique. As his eyes closed, he saw Naruto with a look of utter shock on his face. Tobi, in his final moments, felt satisfied.

Naruto found himself in a dark void. The rushed manner in which Tobi had cast his final jutsu had left it malformed and volatile. Kakashi had told him that when he and Tobi used their shared technique, it would drop the person into a pocket dimension from which they could never escape, unless released by Tobi himself. This didn't look like any pocket dimension, not that Naruto had ever seen one. It was an endless black void with no end in sight, and Naruto found himself adrift.

He cursed his soft nature. He should have finished Tobi cleanly, he shouldn't have dropped his guard, he should have done many things; however, such was the nature of Naruto. he was trusting to a fault and the quintessential spirit of mercy, even when it was not in his best interest. His mercy and trust had put him here, adrift in an empty void from which there was no escape that he could conceive of. He cursed himself and mourned the loss of his friends and dream. He was the best, but the best was dead. What was the point of being the best ninja the world had ever seen, if he was going to be stuck in this place for the rest of his life? His thoughts continued on this dark path until the exhaustion from the battle finally found him and he was lost in the land of dreams.

Naruto dreamt of a huge celebration in Konoha. His friends were there, there was bottomless ramen, and everyone was shouting his name. He was the happiest he'd ever been in his life and even the fact that Rock Lee was in a dress and Ino's head was on Shikamaru's body couldn't put a dent on the ecstasy he was feeling at the moment. What did put a damper on the occasion was the rude awakening he received.

When he came to, Naruto looked groggily around and blearily noted that this was not, in fact, the endless void he had fallen asleep in. No, he was in a very dirty alleyway, book-ended on the left and right by a pair of very tall, brick buildings. He felt a brief rush of relief and joy. Tobi's final revenge had failed! Nevermind that he didn't recognise the design of these buildings and that he was in the noisiest, stinkiest place he'd ever had the pleasure of visiting. He wasn't in the void and he could find his way home.

Naruto rushed out of the alleyway, his tattered orange and black jacket waving wildly in the wind, the zipper having been torn off during his battle. He ran to the end of the alleyway and took a huge breath of not-so-fresh air that he let out in an explosive exhalation. Naruto opened his eyes and was ready to take in the sight of whatever dump in the Elemental Nations he'd, quite literally, landed in, and was thoroughly shocked by what he saw.

This was like no place he'd ever seen, and it certainly wasn't anywhere in the Elemental Nations. He knew, he'd been to every corner of the continent on his training trip.

There were buildings all around him, taller than any he'd ever seen. Large metal... boxes moved up and down the odd black road at high speeds. The people were dressed strangely, and when he finally noticed them pointing and staring at him, he also noticed that they weren't speaking any language that he had ever heard before.

With a falling heart and a depressed sigh, Naruto came to the realization that he was very far away from home, and that getting back wouldn't just be as easy as asking for directions.

Edited 4/28/13 for grammar, spelling, and typos.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Stranded, alone, in a strange place with people around him speaking in a strange language that was foreign to his ears, Naruto decided that the first order of business would be to gain his bearings. He looked up at the buildings around him and even craning his neck as far as it would go, Naruto couldn't see their tops. He'd need to get a view from the top of one, and look out as far into the horizon as he could for any form of landmark.

With a small running start and a powerful leap that made the people around him gasp in amazement, Naruto was off. He landed a few stories up on the glass facade of the building directly to his front. In one leap he had managed to clear the road and all the strange boxes that moved up and down it. The people below were understandably shocked. They'd seen similar feats of strength, but they were always impressive.

Naruto took barely a second to survey the street he was perched over and saw that the road continued as far in either direction as he could see from here. He needed to get higher. With his goal in mind he blurred into motion, immediately leaving the sight of the people below and starting his journey to the top of this unreasonably tall building.

Clark Kent, better known as Superman, was sitting at a desk in the offices of the Daily Planet headquarters putting the finishing touches on a puff piece for his boss. He was doing the requisite amount of work necessary to keep his cover as a mild-mannered reporter from a farm in Kansas. He was fully uninterested in what he was writing; something about a panda at the zoo being introduced to a potential mate. It was dull work and Clark was counting the words until he could leave this place and commence his patrol as his alter ego, Superman.

As he looked up he saw a flash of black and orange flash by one of the large windows that looked down upon the city. Any other person might think it was someone who had jumped off the building. Clark was not any other person. His kryptonian sight had seen what no human's, save perhaps the Flash, could see. The figure was running on the side of the building and it was moving _upwards._ He'd only seen a select few people run up the side of a building and none of them wore orange and black.

Clark decided that his work could wait; something much more interesting had caught his attention.

Naruto reached the top of the building in seconds. The fact that he wasn't wearing the weights he'd taken to wearing when training with Gai and Lee had made it easy to move faster than the untrained eye could see. When he reached the top, Naruto was halted by a strange addition to the architecture.

There was a giant golden sphere on top of the building. It was wider than the building and easily half the size of the hokage tower. He was awed and confused for about half a second before he adhered his feet to the underside of the gigantic sphere and proceeded to walk to the top of it. From the top of the sphere that stood atop the giant building, Naruto was given an unobstructed view of the city he'd landed in.

It was, without a doubt, the largest city he'd ever seen. There was no way, absolutely no way, a place this large, this colossal, was hidden from the rest of the Elemental Nations. Naruto had heard stories of sailors who journeyed to the uncharted areas of the world, and he'd never heard tell of a place like this. It was impossible this would have been missed by even a blind man.

As he was taking in the jaw dropping view of the city below him, Naruto's awe and disbelief was interrupted by a sudden voice coming from behind him.

"_And who might you be?"_

He whirled around in surprise and saw another very strange sight.

There was a garishly dressed man floating in the air in front of him. The man was dressed in a skintight blue body suit, he wore his red underwear _outside _of said suit, and there was a red 'S' on his chest encased in a yellow diamond with a red outline. Not only that, but he was wearing a _cape _of all things. Unless this man was some sort of eccentric Daimyo, and Naruto strongly doubted that he was, he had no business wearing a cape, let alone the rest of his ridiculous outfit.

So shocked was he at this man's appearance, that he couldn't gather his wits enough to answer whatever gibberish the man had spouted his way.

When Superman had reached the top of the Daily Planet, he was treated to the sight of an extremely fit teenager dressed in rags and looking like he'd just been in a huge battle, save for the lack of injuries to be found on his person, taking in the view of the city. He'd seen weirder things, that was for sure, but this was just odd.

Superman decided to make contact with this strange youth and asked him his name. The boy whirled around quickly and Superman feared he would fall for a second until he reminded himself that this boy had just _run up the side_ of the building just moments before.

The look of complete incredulousness on the boy's face was one that Superman was used to seeing on the faces of criminals before he soundly knocked their lights out, but on this boy it struck him as more of a complete cluelessness than the mixture of fear and disbelief you'd find on the face of a common thug. Since the teen hadn't answered his question and seemed to be more preoccupied with his own speechlessness than answering, Superman took the moment to examine him.

The boy before superman was built like any other hero he knew; all muscle and no fat. He looked like he might have been someone's sidekick if not for the fact that he'd at least seen all of them and this boy didn't fit any of their descriptions. He also wore the remains of a black and orange jacket, ripped here and there and missing the zipper completely. To go with said jacket were matching orange pants with some sort of holster attached to his right leg. A scan with his x-ray vision confirmed that it was empty. Finally the boy was wearing odd open toed shoes that, if Superman didn't know better, he would say were old boots with the toe covers cut off. Finally he looked at the boy's face and saw his blue eyes and blonde hair on a tan face with a strong jaw line and six whisker-like marks on his cheeks, three on each side.

With his inspection complete Superman tried once again to communicate with the boy.

"Hello? Who are you? What are you doing up here?"

The teen responded with a rushed statement that he was sure was in Japanese. Well, Superman wasn't Batman, who seemed to be able to speak every known language and dialect in the world, and he only knew enough Japanese to say 'thank you' and 'goodbye'. It was enough for the extremely small amount of time that he spent saving Japan from one crisis or another, but he had a feeling that he would need something more complete to converse with this person. And he knew just who to call.

Superman put a finger to his ear and said, "Batman, come in."

The man in front of Naruto had spoken again, once more in whatever savage language was common in this land, and Naruto had gathered his wits enough to respond with an eloquent rebuttal.

"Speak common, you big, red and blue jerk!"

The man seemed not to understand him and put a hand to his ear and started speaking into seemingly thin air. The man's attention turned from him, Naruto decided it was his time to go. He'd learned all he could from standing on top of this building, it was time to find someone who could speak the civilized tongue and look for any reference he could find of the Elemental Nations.

As he turned around he heard the man shout something and he felt a strong grip on his left shoulder. Before either of them could think Naruto had turned, slapping the man's arm away, and laid a number of blisteringly fast punches to the man's face.

The man recoiled and Naruto settled into a ready stance and resisted the urge to shake out his hands. He hadn't put any chakra behind the punches but quite a bit of strength and the man felt like he had a face made of steel. Besides recoiling from the surprise of it all the man didn't seem all that affected by the assault at all.

They stood like that for a more than a few moments before the big blue man raised his hands in the (multi)universal signal of surrender. Naruto lowered his fists but kept his wits about him in case the man was looking for retribution; if he could take a flurry of his punches and shrug them off, Naruto wasn't too eager to find out what the man could do when he was on the offense.

The man put his hands down too and slowly sat down in a cross legged position in front of Naruto and beckoned him to sit down as well. Naruto warily did so and the man made a gesture for him to wait. And so Naruto did. He didn't know why, but the man in front of him had an earnest presence about him and, if worse came to worst, Naruto had more than enough confidence in his ability to put him down and make a hasty escape. You didn't get to be the strongest ninja in the world if you couldn't beat up some badly dressed joker at a moment's notice.

Batman was floating through Metropolis, guided by one Giovanni Zatara's magic. Superman had called on him, asking for help with an unidentified boy on top of the Daily Planet tower who seemed to speak only Japanese.

Batman had decided it would be prudent to ask for Zatara's assistance as well, considering his ability to imbue the knowledge of language, however temporarily, into someone's mind with his magic.

They reached the top of the Daily Planet and found Superman and the boy sat across from each other in what was apparently a heated staring contest. That is until the boy caught sight of Batman and Zatara and let out an exclamation in what was indeed Japanese.

"_Does everyone in this place know how to fly or what?!"_

Batman thought it prudent to answer, _"Not everyone, just a special few."_

The boy seemed to perk up immediately when he heard someone speaking his language. _"Finally! Someone who isn't spouting that gibberish at me!" _He seemed excited and Batman decided people could be in worse moods when you questioned them.

"_What's your name?" _Batman questioned. It would be best to start with the basics.

"_Uzumaki Naruto, the best ninja that ever lived!" _ The now identified Naruto answered with gusto.

The Dark Knight decided to put the ninja part aside for now and asked, _"How did you get up here?" _

"_I ran up the side of the building. Duh" _

That one threw Batman for a loop. Superman hadn't mentioned anything about the boy _running_ up the side of the building. And the way he answered, it seemed like it was the most mundane thing in the world.

"_Putting that aside for now, this man is going to make it so you can understand our language," _Batman explained. It would be easier if everyone was on the same page. He gestured to Zatara and the Magician started one of his backwards chants. Naruto seemed ready to complain and was halfway to his feet before he was seeming struck by a bout of vertigo and he was knocked right back down on his ass.

Naruto was struck dumb by the strangely familiar feeling of a large amount of knowledge being deposited directly into his head. It took a second before he realized that he could understand the gibberish these people were so insistent on calling a language perfectly. He looked at the middle-aged man in the top hat and long black coat with a raised eyebrow. That was some skill, to put such a large amount of knowledge into someone elses head like that. He was brought out of his pondering by the man in the strange black outfit, who was wearing _another_ cape, speaking to him.

"I take it you can understand me now?" At Naruto's nod he continued, "I'm Batman, and you've got some explaining to do. Let's start with what you said, that you ran up the side of the building."

When Naruto spoke it was slow but he picked up speed quickly. Knowledge of the language didn't give him experience in speaking it. "What about it? I ran up the side. It's pretty simple." Naruto couldn't understand his fascination with surface walking, it was one of his simplest techniques.

Batman scowled and was about to question Naruto more forcefully before Superman cut in. "People don't usually run up buildings, you see. It's obvious you have some powers, we'd just like to know what they are. I'm Superman by the way." All of this was said in an earnest tone that put Naruto on edge.

"You don't just ask a ninja about his skills, even the most boring ones. What're you tryna pull here? Huh?" The nerve of these strangers asking him about his skills. That was the kind of taboo that got you into a fight if the ninja wasn't as forgiving as he was.

"In fact, I've got some questions of my own! Where am I?! What language are we speaking?! Why are you all dressed so strangely?!"

Superman sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.

A/N: Tell me what you think. I'm not too confident in my ability to write dialogue so if anyone has some pointers, I welcome them. Also, the pairing will NOT be harem. I don't like reading them and I don't like writing them. Next chapter probably won't be until after my finals. So until next time.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I'll try not to put these before the story too often, but here it goes. When imagining Naruto's costume, just think of Nightwing's (from Young Justice) with all the grey parts orange and a face mask instead of the traditional domino mask. I've tried to keep the black and orange aesthetic without having an orange blob running around punching dudes and taking names. Also, before people ask, I'm not writing this story to depower Naruto and put him the same level with the other teenagers on the Team. He fights on par with more seasoned heroes because Naruto is extremely powerful with many years of training and some pretty good experience. He'll hide the full extent of his powers for a long time, but I'm not going to take away well earned powers for the sake of arbitrary balancing. That said, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3

Naruto was in a quandary.

After his outburst, the three strange men had endeavored to answer his frenzied inquiries. When their answers registered only confusion on Naruto's part, they decided to take him to a more appropriate location for the impromptu question and answer session to continue. They'd taken Naruto, after much complaining on his part, to a building in a different part of the city. Before he could question the situation much more, they were stood before what he could only describe as a giant ornate hole in a wall. The hole in the wall promptly started glowing and they were quickly enveloped in a bright light before they appeared in a different location altogether.

Upon arriving at the new location, Naruto tried to gain his bearings and take in the layout of the place. He discovered he was indoors and there were no windows. The floors were made of metal and the walls of stone and he figured they were underground on inside of a mountain somewhere. It wasn't surprising, the people of the Land of Earth loved to build their homes inside of rock formations and underground and he figured they weren't the only people in the world to ever do so.

While he was looking around a new arrival was heralded by the same bright light that had brought him here and, more strangely, a disembodied voice exclaiming, "Recognize, Martian Manhunter, 0-7."

Naruto whirled around to inspect the new arrival and ready himself if a more violent response was needed. He was immediately taken aback by how strange this new man looked compared to even the other strangely dressed men he'd met so far. This Martian Manhunter had green skin, solid red eyes, and he wore a black outfit with red accents and a grand blue cape to top it off. Naruto rolled his eyes in exasperation. What was it with these people and their _capes_?

"J'onn. Superman found this boy on top of the Daily Planet building in Metropolis. He had no idea where he was and when questioned it was discovered that he didn't speak a word of English. In fact he had no idea that English was even a language. He spoke only Japanese, and when questioned he didn't know who _we_ were or even _where_ he was." Batman summed up the events that had led them here and to him calling in the alien. It was his hope to put his mind reading to use to suss out the truth of this Uzumaki Naruto's lack of knowledge of their world, language, and the Justice League itself.

Naruto huffed at being spoken of as though he wasn't there. "I'm right here ya know!" He exclaimed. If there was one thing Naruto Uzumaki hated, it was being ignored.

Martian Manhunter nodded to Batman and walked towards the teenager and in question with his hand held out towards him. "I'm J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. And who might you be?"

Naruto looked at his hand warily before taking it in a firm grip. "Uzumaki Naruto. Now, if we're all done with the meet and greet, can somebody tell me where the hell we are?"

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

Naruto's conversation with J'onn lasted longer than he'd expected. He discovered he'd been taken to a place called Mount Justice, just outside of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. When he'd asked where that was, he was told the United States of America. When he asked what America was, J'onn decided it would be prudent to ask him the last thing he remembered before appearing in Metropolis.

Naruto, after some careful consideration of what would be safe to tell him, recounted the story of his final battle with Tobi. He was careful to leave out specific details of his own abilities, but he had a feeling the green man knew more than he let on somehow. When he arrived at the point where Tobi had used his space-time technique as a final revenge against Naruto, J'onn's eyes held a gleam of understanding.

A boy from a place that was not referenced in any database on Earth had shown up in a strange place after being targeted by a technique that warped the very fabric of space and time used by a dying man. You didn't need to be the greatest detective on Earth to figure out what had happened. There was a clear consensus amongst the scientific minds of the galaxy and the practitioners of the more arcane art of magic that there were multiple universes. An infinite number of parallel universes all variances of one origin universe, called the Prime universe. If the boy had been thrown through space and time, it was more than likely that he'd been thrown from his own reality into this one.

When he was told of this, Naruto was floored by the reality of his situation. He wasn't just far from home, he was in another reality. It was more than a journey across an ocean, it was a distance insurmountable by ordinary means. Even if he figured out a way to open a pathway to another of these realities, if what Manhunter said was true, there were an infinite number of other realities; finding his home amongst the literally _endless_ sea of other worlds would be attempting the impossible. And to think, his friends were probably mourning his death while he was stuck in this strange place, literally a universe or more away from them.

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

J'onn had seen the look of dreadful understanding dawning on Naruto's face and decided to go fill the others in while Naruto came to accept his situation. J'onn had known this feeling of isolation when he'd been transported to earth more than five decades ago. He'd missed his family and was inconsolable for a time. It would be best to leave Naruto alone, for at least a few minutes.

He found Batman and Superman in the kitchen, sharing a conversation in hushed tones.

"He's got amazing reflexes, Bruce. He turned and punched me six times before I knew what was happening. He's strong too. He didn't really hurt me, but if I'd been anyone else, someone more normal, I might be talking to you with two black eyes and a few missing teeth." Superman had recounted to Batman how Naruto had reflexively tried to beat his face in when he'd touch him from behind. Obviously there was a danger of letting a meta-human with reflexes quick enough to attack the Man of Steel with impunity. Batman decided he would need to be watched, closely.

"That's not the extent of his power, it seems. When we were talking I caught glimpses in his mind of a fight between him and a masked man. The powers both of them displayed were truly impressive. However, that is beside the point. The boy told me of what happened to him before he appeared in Metropolis." J'onn explained to them his theory that Naruto was from a different universe, somewhere in the sea of infinite universes. "I detected no outright deception in him. He tried to omit details of his true strength, but he never tried to outright lie to me."

"If it's true that he's from a different reality, then we have no way of returning him to his home. Not without knowing conclusively which of them he's from. And then there's the fact that multiverse is ever expanding and new universes come into existence every second of every day. Our maps the existing multiverse are already out of date. We can't try to send him anywhere; with the amount of time he's been here, his reality is likely already out of our reach." Batman summed up the hopelessness of the situation quite well.

"I guess that's that, huh?"

They all turned to see Naruto in the doorway to the kitchen. He pounded his fist into the doorway, pounding a section of it into dust immediately, before he blurred out of existence. Likely trying to find his way out of the mountain. Superman was quick to follow.

Batman narrowed his eyes at J'onn. The boy hiding his presence from himself or Superman was explainable, but he held no delusions that J'onn wasn't perfectly aware of his presence outside of the kitchen.

"It had to be done my friend. Uzumaki Naruto will not benefit from being coddled. He needed to hear it spoken plainly to understand his situation."

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It wasn't hard for Superman to find Naruto. With his super hearing it was impossible for him not to hear sound of fists on breaking stone. When he came upon Naruto he was furiously trying to punch his way out of Mount Justice through the rock wall. Finally, he seemed to become frustrated with the futility of his actions and formed a swirling blue ball in hand the size of a basketball and drove it into the wall. It exploded with a furiously release of energy and when the dust cleared there was a hole several feet deep in the wall, but he wasn't much closer to getting out of the mountain.

"That was pretty impressive, you know."

Naruto whirled around, anger in his eyes and spotted Superman. "Whaddaya want?! Unless you've got some way to get me home, open this door and let me outta here!"

"I can't get you home, and I can't just let you run around causing havoc because you're angry. But I can do you one better; you can come to the training room and take it out on me. I can take it, the mountain can't and the people out there certainly can't." Superman turned around and made a gesture for Naruto to follow him before he started walking away.

Naruto stared after him for a few seconds and reluctantly followed.

The mountain shook that day and it continued well into the night. Repairs would be needed before Mount Justice was usable again.

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It was July 4th, 2010, and Naruto had been in this reality for almost a full year. He hadn't given up hope of ever going home, but such concerns had taken a backseat to his starting of a new life in this reality. He tried not to become too comfortable with his new life, tried to keep the flame burning for his old home, but it was hard. While not everyone here was kind, he'd found a friend and confidant in Superman. Reluctant as he was to say it, Superman was a strong opponent and they'd forged a mutual respect that later developed into friendship on that night, almost a year ago, when they'd torn up the inside of Mount Justice. Though he still thought the cape was ridiculous.

Batman had been kind enough to set him up with small apartment in Metropolis afterwards, though Naruto was immediately disabused of the notion of Batman being _kind_ when he realized that he had seemingly endless resources at his disposal and that he'd been placed in Metropolis so that Superman could better keep an eye on him. Batman was slow to trust, and he didn't want a meta-human running around unchecked.

A judicious application of shadow clones had allowed Naruto to quickly learn the languages of this new place before Zatara's spell wore off. He'd learned many of the languages of this new reality, mostly because shadow clones made it easy and expeditious and he never wanted to be caught in a situation where he couldn't communicate with the people around him again. He'd learned the customs and he'd learned how to blend in.

Naruto had quickly been taken under Superman's wing and had been introduced to crime fighting by the Man of Steel himself. And therein lay the Naruto's new passion. He could punch bad guys while saving lives and protecting the innocent. What wasn't there to like? It provided a much needed release for him and punching super powered villains was a good way to work through the stress of finding himself in a strange world surrounded by strange people. Through crime fighting Naruto raged against the foul turn of circumstance that had taken him from his friends and loved ones and brought here.

In his first few days of fighting for justice, Naruto had insisted on wearing his newly replaced orange jumpsuit and any improvised mask he could find, much to Superman's chagrin. That is until he had his first run-in with a gun. There had been dart launchers, crossbows, and even the train that had fired innumerable kunai at them in snow country, but those were easily avoided or parried by any experienced ninja. He had never encountered a weapon that could fire such deadly projectiles at speeds so fast that his ninja trained vision couldn't follow them. Needless to say, his first encounter with a firearm had ended with Naruto two holes in his side and a well earned hate for firearms of all kinds.

After that incident Superman had requested Batman make a new protective suit for the ninja. There was no one better suited to making it, Batman knew well the dangers of more conventional weaponry to those who weren't bulletproof. A day later Batman had the designs drawn up and after a few adjustments by Naruto, namely removing the _cape_, adding a symbol and more orange, the suit was well on its way to being made. One week later Naruto had his new crime fighting outfit. It was a black bodysuit with orange accents and an orange face mask with padded black boots reminiscent of ninja tabi on his feet. There was a simple four pointed shuriken on the chest and it had an orange belt that he used to hold his various weapons pouches. To finish off the ensemble Naruto had taken his leaf headband and fastened it to his forehead as a reminder of his roots and the friends he had left behind. Batman had described it with words like 'armored' and 'kevlar weave' that had no impact on Naruto. He just cared that it would help avoid a repeat of his first incident with firearms and as long as it did its job well and made him look cool in the process, Naruto was perfectly happy with it.

And so the young hero named Shinobi came into existence. Many referred to him as the sidekick of Superman because of how often the two crossed paths, but Naruto had done well to create his own legacy of fear amongst the seedy underbelly of Metropolis's Southside, better known as Suicide Slum.

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The hot day in July found Shinobi in the New Troy borough of Metropolis. He'd left Suicide Slum because reports were coming in that the villain Metallo was conducting a robbery at S.T.A.R. Labs. Superman had told him over a radio communicator that the robotic villain was trying to raid the lab for their stash of kryptonite. The glowing ore was used to power the robot's systems and it provided a useful weapon against the Man of Steel when needed. Metallo had stolen a large chunk of kryptonite and had proceeded to try to escape into the city.

Shinobi stood atop a building waiting for Superman to herd the robot towards him so that he could engage and put an end to his brief rampage.

"Now!" The word came over his comlink and Shinobi tipped over the edge of the building before he disappeared in a blur of speed.

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When Shinobi reappeared his foot was outstretched in the aftermath of a powerful kick and Metallo had been thrown across the road he was running on and into a nearby car, crushing it beyond repair on impact.

Metallo stood and laid eyes upon his attacker.

"Ah, so the Man of Steel sends his boy sidekick to do his work for him? I'll teach him never to send a boy to do a man's job!" The compartment in Metallo's chest that stored his cache of kryptonite opened and a green beam of energy shot at directly at Shinobi.

Before the beam could make contact Shinobi's hands come together in a hand sign before he was shrouded in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared Shinobi was nowhere to be found and in his place was the car Metallo had crushed before.

"That's called kawarimi!" Before Metallo could properly register the voice that had whispered into whatever approximated as his ear he was spun around to face Shinobi who then hit him with a devastating uppercut that drove him into the air. At the apex of his flight he was parallel to the ground and had a view of the beautiful sky above Metropolis before it was obstructed by Shinobi who had somehow gotten above him and had a menacing ball of blue energy in his hand. Metallo could raise nary a protest before it was thrust into his chest and it blew up with a monstrous release of energy.

Shinobi landed next to the crater that Metallo's violent reunion with the Earth had made and looked the robot in the eye.

"That's called the Rasengan! Never call me a sidekick again if you know what's good for ya!" This was the last Metallo heard or saw before his kryptonite core was violently removed by Shinobi.

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Superman landed next to Shinobi and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Great work. A little too much destruction for my tastes, but you definitely handled it quickly and with expert precision." Superman delivered his praise with a smile while both he and Shinobi ignored the cheering crowds and the flash of photography around them.

"Yeah, well, I had to do it fast didn't I? Today's the day, right? Now let's get going, gramps! We're gonna be late!"

A/N: Hope you like it. My first fight scene in my first story. I tried to keep it brief, Naruto shouldn't have to show his entire repertoire of techniques on a niche villain like Metallo whose only real claim to fame is being able to counter Superman. Also, I write these chapters on the spot with no real prewriting involved, so if you spot any mistakes let me know in a PM or something and I'll try to get to it. I'll try to get the next chapter out before Monday, but no promises.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After the dust up with Metallo, Shinobi and Superman were on their way to Washington, D.C. Superman insisted on flying them both there. He cited his incredible flight speed as the reason; flying from New York to Virginia was a piece of cake when you could break the sound barrier. It all sounded very reasonable, but the ninja was certain he just wanted to take advantage of the fact that flying made him uneasy, and flying at such extremely fast speeds only made it worse. Naruto's confidence and bravado was legendary in its own right, but he found it abandoned him when he was flying.

They arrived at the Hall of Justice in just a few minutes only to find that there was already a motley crew of costumed heroes there waiting for them, as well as a scattering of tourists taking pictures of said heroes.

When Superman finally set him down, Naruto got a good look at the heroes assembled before him. There was Batman, Robin, Green Arrow, Speedy, Aquaman, and Aqualad. Naruto was prepared to make his introductions, though he'd met Robin and Speedy before on different occasions, before Superman interjected.

"Seems we're short two. You'd think the two fastest people in the world might manage to keep an appointment." His joke was met by chuckles that were cut short when the final two attendants arrived. They both appeared in bursts of speed; The Flash and his protege, Kid Flash, had arrived.

"I knew we'd be the last ones here!" Kid Flash's outburst reignited a new round of laughter before the group decided to make their way up the path to the Hall of Justice.

Naruto tapped Kid Flash on the shoulder and waited until he turned around before he stuck his hand out.

"Name's Shinobi. Nice to meet'cha." Kid Flash immediately took his hand and shook it vigorously.

"Hey! I'm Kid Flash! Oh, man, I'm so pumped! Have all the sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?"

"_Don't _call us sidekicks. Not after today," Speedy interjected.

Today was the day he was going to move up in the world. He would finally be acknowledged for all his training and hard work. He was joining the League today, and he'd never anticipated anything more in his life.

"Yeah. Besides I'm not anybody's sidekick! Not even this guy." Naruto pointed at Superman who gave him a clap on the back that sent him stumbling forward.

"Sorry. First time at the Hall. I'm a little overwhelmed." And Kid Flash's awe was understandable. Here they were, young heroes that had paid their dues. They were about to be accepted into a society their mentors had been a part of for years. A league of men and women who were revered by all for their willingness to lay down their lives in the defense of their fellow man. It was a lot to take in.

"You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anybody ever just _whelmed_?" Robin's comment marked the end of their walk. They entered the atrium of the Hall of Justice where they were met by Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter stepping out of a doorway marked 'Authorized personnel only'.

"Robin, Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Shinobi. Welcome." Martian Manhunter turned and lead them through the doorway. "You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley..." They were led through many rooms of the Hall, all of them with observation decks where the tourists watched and took pictures of them. Naruto couldn't fathom why the headquarters of the mighty Justice League was a glorified tourist trap. He also didn't understand why they were making such a big deal about all this 'access' if any person who wandered in off the street could see exactly what they were seeing right now. The tour came to an end in the library. It was a large room with books lining all the walls, a few comfortable chairs here and there, and a large black table in the center. "And, of course, our library."

The Flash turned and made a magnanimous gesture, "Make yourselves at home." The other teenagers proceeded to throw themselves into the open chairs. All except for Speedy and Shinobi.

Shinobi stood there and scratched his head in a confused manner. He felt gypped. Superman had made a big deal about this for the past month. He'd been excited for Naruto, and that excitement was infectious. Naruto had almost felt like these people saw him as an equal, that they would bring him into the fold. But here they were, in a glorified museum and sitting in a room while both the members of the League and the common people looked down on him alike. It was disappointing to say the least.

The older heroes started to discuss a series of attacks made by several villains today when Naruto decided to make his disappointment vocal. That is until Speedy beat him to the punch.

"That's it?! You promised us a real look inside, not a glorified backstage pass!"

Aqualad was quick to answer, "It's a first step. You've been granted access few others get."

Speedy made a sweeping gesture to the crowd that was looking down upon them from the observation deck. "Oh, really? Who cares which side of the glass we're on?!"

Green Arrow stepped forward to calm down his protege. "Roy, you just need to be patient."

"What I need is _respect_." He turned to the other four teenagers and tried to appeal to them directly. "They're treating us like kids! Worse, they're treating us like _sidekicks_. We deserve better than this."

Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin look at each other and back at Speedy. Their reaction was less than encouraging. He then looked to Shinobi and asked him, "How about you? Didn't you take down Metallo by yourself today?" It seemed news travelled fast. "We're just as good as any of them and treat us like dirt! Doesn't that piss you off?"

Naruto crossed his arms and looked down in contemplation before he answered. "Sure it pisses me off. Of course I'm disappointed. But that big oaf," here he pointed at Superman, "is my friend. He's been lookin' out for me since the beginning. I trust him. So of course I'm mad, but I'm not just gonna fly off the handle like a kid and complain 'cause I didn't get my way."

"You've gotta be kidding me. Right? Today was supposed to be _the_ day. Step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League." It seemed Naruto's speech had only served to rile Speedy up even more. Kid Flash gave it a try next.

"Well, sure, but I thought step one was a tour of the HQ." It all seemed reasonable to him. The League had trusted them enough to let them into their headquarters. Sure there were tourists everywhere, but they were being trusted to go where no one else was able to. That was a big step in his book, though Speedy was quick to disabuse him of that notion.

"Except the hall isn't their real headquarters!" The heroes behind Speedy had looks of surprise on their faces. It was obvious the sidekicks weren't supposed to know that. "I bet they never told you the Hall is just a false front for tourists. It's a pit stop for catching zeta-beam teleporter tubes to the _real_ thing: an orbiting _satellite_, called the Watchtower."

Green Arrow glanced back at Batman and was met with staunch disapproval.

"I know, I know. But I thought maybe we could make an exception?" His request was answered with a narrowing of the eyes. Batman's glare was the writing on the wall. On this issue he would not budge. "Or not."

Aquaman tried to diffuse the situation, but a king was not the best option when trying to calm down an angry teenager. "You are not helping your cause here, son. Stand down. Or-"

"Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm _not_ your son. I'm not even his." Speedy could see he'd hurt Green Arrow with that comment, but he continued undaunted. "I thought I was his partner. But... not anymore." He signed his resignation by taking off his hat and throwing it down on the ground. As Speedy left the library he let loose one parting shot. "I guess they're right about you four. You're _not_ ready."

Before anyone could say much about Speedy's departure an alert came in and Icon appeared on the screen. He was a very large man wearing a red tunic, a green cape, and a domino mask to conceal his identity. "Icon to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

Batman was the first to answer. "I've had my suspicions about Cadmus. This may present the perfect opportunity to-"

"Zatara to Justice League! The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Aten to blot out the Sun! Requesting full League response."

After consulting with the other heroes present, it was decided that the fire at Project Cadmus could be handled by local authorities. The rest of the League was called in to rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Before they left, Batman left one stern command. "Stay put."

Kid Flash was the first to voice his complaints. "How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like... like sidekicks."

"My mentor, my king. I thought he trusted me."

"Trust? They don't even trust us enough to tell us the truth! They've got a secret base! IN SPACE!"

To Naruto it was a disappointment, sure, but to the rest of these guys it was a huge betrayal of trust. But he wouldn't spend the rest of the day moping around over it. Uzumaki Naruto was no quitter.

"Instead of cryin' about it, let's do something. You can't sit here complaining all day, do something proactive. I say we take care of that fire at that Cadmus place. Let's show 'em we can do just fine with 'em. I'm not anybody's sidekick, now it's time to prove you're not either."

They all looked at Naruto in surprise before smiles spread over their faces.

"What is this Project Cadmus?" Aqualad posed a good question. If they were going to take care of this problem without League consent, they would need to know where to go.

Robin answered with a mischievous grin. "Dunno, but I bet I can find out."

He walked up to the computer and his hands started flying all over the keyboard, typing in any number of commands. Robin was through the security in a matter of seconds. He found out that Cadmus was a genetics lab in Washington, D.C.

"So, just like that, we're a team on a mission?" Aqualad still had his misgivings, but Naruto quickly put them to rest.

"You want their trust and their respect, right? Well those aren't given, they're earned. Let's go earn 'em."

With a destination in hand and a resolve to prove themselves to the League, the group of young heroes was off.

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When they arrived at Project Cadmus the local authorities were well on their way to putting out the fire, but there were two trapped scientists shouting out of a second story window for help.

With a burst of speed, Kid Flash ran up the wall, pulling the scientists from the window and depositing them on the roof of the building before he lost momentum and traction and started to fall. Naruto was about to move to save him, but he caught himself on the ledge of the open window.

"Look! It's Flash-Boy!" One of the firemen shouted.

"It's KID FLASH! Why is that so hard to remember?" Kid Flash took a moment to complain before he pulled himself into the window.

Down on the ground Aqualad, Shinobi, and Robin stood watching Kid Flash as he ran headlong into the situation.

"Does he always have to run ahead? We need a plan." Aqualad had a point and Shinobi agreed with him, but it seemed Robin had other ideas. With a laugh that echoed around the area he was running up the ladder on the fire truck and swinging on his grapple gun into the burning building.

Naruto sighed. This wasn't how a team was supposed to work. He looked at Aqualad and said, "Guess it's just us, huh? Can you put out that fire? I'll get the scientists off the roof. I dunno why Kid Flash thought putting them up _there_ of all places was a good idea."

Aqualad ran towards the firemen that were holding the fire hose while Naruto ran up the side of the building with much more success than Kid Flash had on his own attempt. After some fancy maneuvering with his Water Bearers, Aqualad had put the fire out and two quick clones on Shinobi's part carried the scientists to safety.

After they made their way inside they found Robin on a computer and Kid Flash looking through a file cabinet.

"Hey! You two can't just go running ahead all the time. If we're gonna be a team, we gotta act like one. You can't just go leaving your teammates behind!" Naruto couldn't trust them to have his back if they were just going to go running ahead with no concern for their comrades. If they were going to be a team, he wasn't going to hold back when half the members tried to be hotshots and do everything on their own.

"You handled it. Besides we're here to investigate, remember?" It seemed Robin didn't listen to anyone except Batman; Naruto's whole tirade had as much effect on him has wind did blowing on stone. He was going to lay into him again before they heard Aqualad calling over to them.

He was in the hall pointing at an elevator at the end of it. "There was something in there."

"Elevators should be locked down," Kid Flash said.

Robin started fiddling with a holographic screen projected by his glove and it revealed that the elevator was a high speed express elevator. "This doesn't belong in a two story building."

"Neither does what I saw." Aqualad walked forward to the elevator doors and a quick application of force pushed them open. They all moved over to the open doorway and looked down to see an elevator shaft that stretched down into the Earth for as far as they eye could see.

"And that's why they need an express elevator," said Robin before he shot his grapple gun into the ceiling descended down into the darkness. Both Aqualad and Kid Flash jumped to his line and went down after him. Naruto, however, prefered to take his own way down and allowed himself to tip over the edge until his feet found purchase on the side of the elevator shaft and he started to run down it.

Shinobi quickly reached the point where Robin's line had run out and jumped across the shaft through the door that Aqualad had opened.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus," said Robin before Kid set off running down the long hallway before them. He made it to a turn in the corridor where he was surprised by a herd of very large, grey beasts ambling down the intersecting pathway. He was joined by the rest of the team who looked in awe at... whatever these things were.

"What the hell have they been doing in here?" Shinobi had seen _much_ larger animals, but nothing quite so odd as this. There was obviously a lot more to this Project Cadmus than met the eye.

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Doctor Mark Desmond was the head of Cadmus Labs in Washington, D.C. He had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and black-rimmed glasses sat on his face. Desmond was something of a weedy man and he had a short temper for anyone who would interrupt his experiments. He sat in his underground lab, surrounded by jars full of half-complete abominations, experimenting with a mineral suspended in a clear liquid. He'd finally seemed to make a breakthrough when he was interrupted by the sound of his door opening.

Guardian, the head of security, stood in the doorway with one of the telepathic G-Gnomes stood on one of his broad shoulders. "Dr. Desmond."

"Tell me, Guardian, what part of 'no interruptions' did you not understand?" Desmond continued his work unabated.

"A G-Gnome on sub-level 26 reports four intruders." It was plain as day to Guardian that Desmond didn't care what he had to say about anything. If Desmond had his way he'd be left alone to experiment from sunrise to sunset, but there were other more pressing issues at hand.

Desmond let out a long suffering sigh and looked away from his microscope to scrutinize Guardian. "Did I miss a perimeter breach alert?" Desmond asked with sarcasm dripping from his every word.

"No."

"Then the G-Gnome's confused. Whatever might occur in our faux lab above ground, the _real_ Cadmus is the most secure facility in D.C."

"My job to keep it that way." Guardian was not budging on this issue. It was his job to keep this facility safe, and he intended to do it. Even if he had to rub his direct superior the wrong way to do so.

"_Fine_! Take a squad." Anything to get rid of this latest interruption.

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They'd been running around this place like chickens with their heads cut off for a quarter of an hour now and Naruto was thoroughly annoyed. They had no idea what they were looking for and they just kept going through doors, hoping to stumble upon something good enough to bring back to the League.

After much aimless wandering the team was standing outside of a large metal door, keeping watch while Robin bypassed the security. They were met by a large room, filled to the very high ceiling with containers that held some very strange creatures. Though Naruto had no idea what these creatures were, it was obvious they were producing electricity to power this place.

Kid Flash was the first to catch on. "This is how they hide this huge facility from the world. The real Cadmus isn't on the grid; it generates its own power. With these... things. It must be what they're bred for."

While the rest of the team discussed the implications of such things and Robin hacked into a nearby computer, Shinobi walked to one of the containers to take a closer look at on of the creatures. It was ugly, that much was certain. All jagged edges and sharp limbs. Ugly as they were, it was no excuse for what was happening to them. These creatures were made by these people and used as tools from the day they were born until the day they died. It was despicable.

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice from the door.

"Don't move!" Security had arrived in the form of a familiar hero called Guardian flanked by four of the creatures that seemed to be everywhere in this place. Shinobi had met Guardian a few times before, considering they were both based out of Suicide Slum in Metropolis. He'd stopped appearing a few months back and the ninja hadn't thought much of it. People moved on, it wasn't so strange. What was strange was to find him in a place like this.

"Wait. Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash. And Shinobi too?"

"Heya, buddy. Long time no see. I thought maybe you'd died or moved away. But here you are making living weapons in some underground lair." Shinobi walked forward, arms stretched out to his side in a welcoming gesture. "C'mon, Guardian! This isn't you!"

"What, weapons? Shinobi, I-" Before he could finish his statement, Guardian was interrupted by a foreign feeling in his head. He looked down and gripped his head and when he looked back up there was steel in his eyes. "Take them down hard. No mercy!"

Robin immediately threw down a smoke bomb and used the distraction to shoot his grapple gun at the ceiling and quickly escape the room.

"You guys handle the creatures, I'll take Guardian!" Naruto gave his orders and punctuated them by throwing a salvo of shuriken at Guardian.

The shuriken were blocked by the shield on Guardian's forearm, but the shuriken had already played their role. He was separated from his underlings and the distraction had also served the purpose of having Guardian take his eyes off Shinobi. A costly mistake.

Shinobi had used the distraction to close the distance with a burst of speed. Before Guardian knew it Shinobi's hands were on his shoulders, knocking the G-Gnome off, and Shinobi flipped over him, using the momentum of his flip to send Guardian flying into the wall by the doorway.

Shinobi turned to see that Kid Flash and Aqualad had dealt with their enemies. "Let's follow Robin, that little maneuver won't keep Guardian down for long."

They ran out of the room, a new wave of creatures on their tail. When they found Robin he was already in the process of hacking his way into an elevator.

"Way to be a team player, _Rob_." Kid Flash was annoyed, and rightfully so. Robin had a bad habit of leaving his teammates behind and running off to do his own thing.

"Weren't you right behind me?" He brushed it off in the same playful manner he had before and entered the elevator, the rest of the team follow quickly. The door closed just as the creatures reached it and the elevator started to move. But Aqualad quickly noted it was in the wrong direction.

"We're headed _down_?"

"Dude, out is _up_!" Kid Flash added.

"Excuse me? Project Kr is down, on sublevel 52. It's the reason we're here!" Robin was quick to rebut. Naruto hadn't been paying attention when they'd discovered this piece of information, but whether or not Robin was right, it was too late to turn back now.

When the elevator arrived at sublevel 52 the change was jarring. The walls were covered in some sort of organic material that reminded Naruto of Jiraiya's Toad Mouth Bind that had put them inside of one of the summoning toads of Mount Myoboku. The hall outside of the elevator split into several paths and there were barrels scattered about. Naruto couldn't begin to guess what they were filled with, but he was sure he didn't want to find out.

Before they could figure out which way to go, the group encountered another of the creatures. This one was more humanoid in appearance and even wore clothing.

"Hold!" It yelled and immediately started levitating barrels and throwing them at them. The barrels exploded on contact and the group decided that in this case, discretion would be the better part of valor and ran through the path on their right.

Kid Flash ran ahead and when the rest of the group turned the next corner they were confronted by a giant metal door marked 'Project Kr'. For better or worse they'd reached their destination. Kid Flash had managed to bar the door and the group filed in, one by one, with Aqualad kicking out the improvised door stop when he was through.

Robin was once again working his technical magic on a terminal by the doorway. "I've disabled the door. We're safe."

"We're trapped," Aqualad said. He was right. Here they were 52 stories under the ground, behind a door that would only keep the enemy forces out for so long before they got through. They couldn't dwell on this for long though because Kid Flash had brought something more pressing to their attention.

"Uh, guys? You'll wanna see this." He pressed a button on a console in the center of the room and a containment pod that wasn't far behind it was lit up. Inside was a teenager. Not just any teenager, tough. This was the spitting image of Superman and he wore a white suit with Superman's logo on it to confirm what was already obvious.

"Big 'K', little 'R'. The atomic symbol for krypton!" Kid Flash turned to the rest of them. "Clone?"

"If it is a clone of the big guy these people have _a lot_ of explainin' to do." Naruto was shocked. Besides the fact that this was all going on without Superman's consent, he knew that the big guy would never have agreed to this in the first place. At any rate, it was too late now. The clone was grown and it wasn't like one of his; this one wouldn't just disappear in a puff of smoke.

Robin quickly started hacking into the terminal and quickly found what they were after. "Weapon designation: Superboy. A clone force grown in... sixteen weeks!? From DNA acquired from Superman."

"Stolen from Superman," Aqualad corrected.

While the other three were discussing the specifications of this clone, Naruto finally heard something that _really_ caught his interest.

"Genomorph gnomes. Telepathic. Force-feeding him an education." Robin read off the description of the creatures, now named Genomorphs.

"One of those things was on Guardian's shoulder too. I bet they're usin' their telepathy to control him. Probably this guy, too." Naruto gestured at the clone. It made sense, Guardian wasn't the type to be involved with this kind of operation. Not with the way things were run here.

"They're making a _slave_ out of Superman's... _son_," Kid Flash said.

"Now we contact the League," Aqualad said. And everyone else concurred. He pressed the buckle on his belt and it glowed blue, but there was no answer. They were too far underground to get a signal. They were on their own.

"Let's get this kid outta here. I know Supes wouldn't want him being a slave to these people, even if he doesn't know that he exists," Naruto said.

As the pod opened Naruto noticed that the horns on the Gnomes above the clone had started to glow red. His eyes widened but it was already too late. The clone charged out of the pod and was upon him before he could retaliate.

Superboy was strong, extremely so, and he was using that strength to try to keep Shinobi pinned to the floor while he rained punches down upon him. Well, Superboy may have been strong, but Naruto had experience. He caught one of Superboy's punches and used his lack of balance to turn the tables on him and roll the two of them over until Shinobi was on top. He held him there as best he could, but it was like trying to keep hold of a bucking bronco. If that bucking bronco had super strength.

Shinobi wasn't willing to hurt this clone. He was blameless in this, a pawn being controlled by the gnomes in the room. If they wanted to calm Superboy down, they'd have to take those gnomes out of the picture. Before he could say as much Superboy's strength finally won out and Shinobi's unwillingness to hurt the clone cost him. The price was a full force punch to the face that sent him flying into the metal door behind him.

In their spars together, Shinobi always made sure never to take any of Superman's punches to the head. He'd been hit by one of them once and when he'd regained consciousness, he knew he never wanted it to happen again.

The combination of the super powered punch and his head knocking against the metal door was too much for him and Shinobi found the world fading into darkness.

Naruto cursed his own mistake before he succumbed to the darkness and knew no more.

A/N: This one is running a bit long. I'm cutting the Cadmus arc into two chapters, since it was that way in the show anyway. Next time we'll have the Blockbuster fight and Naruto will finally showcase a few more of his abilities. He's been kinda playing it low key until now because the group's around to pick up some of the slack and his enemies so far haven't required much overwhelming force to take care of. Welp, until next time.

Edited 4/28/13 for grammar and typos.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Naruto found himself back on the Island Turtle; he could hear the Falls of Truth roaring somewhere in the distance, just out of his line of sight. Killer B was stood in front of him, his mouth moving but nothing coming out. When he looked down at himself he saw his black and orange crime fighting outfit.

As soon as he laid eyes on these clothes, Naruto knew what had happened. He'd been hit by a super powered sucker punch and now he was here. Naruto sighed at this turn of events and decided it was time to get to work.

When Naruto looked up at his mind's manifestation of Killer B, he noted that its head had become four times the proper size and was now covered in shocking pink hair. However, now was no time for amusement. He closed his eyes and focused his will and when he reopened them he was in a different place.

Naruto was greeted to the sight of a peaceful grassy field. There were mountains in the distance and the sun was high in the sky. This was the place Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox had created for himself.

Naruto looked around to find the colossal red fox exactly where it had been ever since they had come to this reality. Kurama was laid on his side on the ground, his tails limp and splayed out behind his massive body. Kurama's eyes were open and his tongue lolled out of his slightly open mouth until it touched the ground. When Naruto looked into Kurama's red eyes he saw no more intelligence than had been there for nearly a year. Whatever catatonia had stricken the fox was still as strong as the day it had taken hold of him.

Naruto didn't know the cause of Kurama's unresponsive state, or rather he knew the travel between dimensions had caused it, but he didn't know _why_. When Superman had first landed one of his super punches on Naruto's chin during their spar on the day of his arrival, he had tried to seek out his partner in the seal only to find him in this state.

Naruto didn't want to risk exposing the League to the existence of the demon fox in his belly, so he had no real idea as to what was causing this catatonia or what to do to break it. At any rate, the body was breathing and Kurama would keep until he came up with any ideas on how to help him.

"Don't worry, Kurama. I haven't forgotten about you, but right now I've gotta kick someone's ass." With his piece said, Naruto drew on a sliver of Kurama's power and used it to materialize a door that stood in the middle of the field. Kurama's power could jump start his body into consciousness like this quite easily, all that remained was to walk through the door.

Naruto walked over to the door, opened it, and took one look back at his catatonic partner before crossing the portal back into the waking world.

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Shinobi's return to consciousness was not marked by any outward change; his body didn't twitch, he didn't gasp, and his heartbeat remained steady. This was a skill that no amount of clones could help him learn, only a large amount of meditation and practice. It was good for gathering information when a ninja messed up enough to fall unconscious and be captured by enemy forces.

He was suspended in an uncomfortable position, hands above his head held there by the metal restraints around his wrists. This was quite the predicament, but well within his abilities to escape from.

Shinobi cracked his eyes open slightly so as not to give away the fact that he was awake. He was in a pod inside of another laboratory in this creepy place. The clone, Superboy, was standing a small ways off, seemingly staring at him and his captured compatriots. After taking in the situation, Shinobi knew this escape would take a bit of finesse. He quickly made a one-handed seal when Superboy was focusing his attention on Aqualad and a small puff of smoke in the corner of the room was the only evidence of his shadow clone's creation, and even that faded quickly.

The clone quickly jumped to the ceiling of the lab and used the Meisaigakure Jutsu to blend in with the organic texture of whatever had been used to build this place. The technique wouldn't make the clone perfectly invisible, not by a long shot, but it would pass a first inspection. And nobody ever looked up, anyway. With his clone in place, Shinobi settled in to wait for the perfect opportunity to put his plan into motion.

As it turns out, he didn't have to wait very long. The others woke up in a minute or two and proceeded to try to convince Superboy to let them out of their restraints. Kid Flash's outraged outbursts were all the distraction Shinobi needed. A quick puff of smoke was the only indication that he had replaced himself with his hidden clone. Superboy glanced in the direction of his pod but he dismissed the few remaining wisps of smoke as a malfunction in the machinery; it dissipated quickly and there didn't seem to be anything generating more.

As Shinobi prepared to spring his plan, Aqualad asked an interesting question. "Do you know what you are? Who you are?" Shinobi held back, his curiosity was piqued. The answer was not disappointing.

"I am the Superboy. A genomorph. A clone made from the DNA of the Superman, created to replace him should he perish. To destroy him should he turn from the Light." The others exchanged surprised looks and Shinobi's clone dropped the guise of unconsciousness.

"The big guy's not someone you can just clone and replace. It takes more than the right DNA to become Superman. And why would you even want to? These people made you to be their weapon. Is that what you really want? I knew someone that was a living weapon once. I had to beat the crazy out of him before he was ever happy. That's no way to live, killing whoever some boss points their finger at." Just like Gaara back during the chuunin exams, Naruto saw a chance to give someone a better life. A life beyond being manipulated to accomplish the goals of evil men.

"Shinobi's right. You deserve a life of your own, beyond that solar suit. Beyond your pod. Beyond Cadmus," Aqualad said.

"I live because of Cadmus! It is my home!"

"Your home's an underground creepshow that goes around cloning people and creating living weapons. Trust me when I say that's never a good thing. Maybe you were created to replace Superman, but we can show you a life beyond that." Shinobi could tell they were getting close now.

"_We _can you show you the Sun," Robin said.

"I'm pretty sure it's after midnight, but we can show you the moon," Kid Flash continued.

"We can show you, introduce you to Superman,"Aqualad finished.

"No, they can't. They'll be... otherwise occupied." Desmond had walked in through the sliding metal door, Guardian and another female doctor beside him as well as three G-Gnomes, on each of their shoulders. "Activate the cloning process."

That was all Shinobi needed to hear. He pulled three kunai knives from his thigh holster and threw them, ring end first, at the G-Gnomes. He wouldn't allow Desmond to re-assert his mental control over Superboy and it was about time Guardian was freed from this place.

As soon as the G-Gnome fell from his shoulder, Desmond realized something was wrong. This was confirmed when Guardian started speaking

"What's going on? It's like a fog's clearing from my head."

Shinobi dropped from the ceiling and appeared at his side. "We can talk about that later, right now we've gotta get those three out of their pods and get outta here!" Guardian looked at Shinobi and nodded, he pushed his way past Desmond and the other scientist to the control console for the pods.

"No! Dammit, no!" Desmond picked up one of the errant G-Gnomes and tried to shove onto Superboy's shoulder. "You belong to me!"

Superboy pushed him into a wall. "I don't _belong_ to anyone!" He cracked his knuckles and advanced on Desmond before he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. He looked back to see it belonged to Shinobi.

"You wanna meet the big guy don't you? You wanna meet Superman? So let's get outta here. This guy's gonna get what's coming to him."

Superboy stared at him long and hard before he nodded. With the other three teens released from their pods and Guardian freed from Desmond's telepathic control, they were ready to leave. As they were leaving through the door they heard Desmond fire a parting shot.

"This isn't over! You'll never get out of here! I'll have you back in pods by morning." He picked up his G-Gnome and used it to communicate telepathically with every scientist and Genomorph in the underground lab. "Activate every genomorph in Cadmus... and release Project Deadman."

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As the group was running through the halls, they saw the weird egg-like projections on the organic walls start to glow red.

"They're activating all the genomorphs in this place. Shinobi can you do that clone trick of yours? Try to buy us some time so I can lead us out of here." Guardian may have been under telepathic control for who knows how long, but he still had intimate knowledge of the layout of this place. Shinobi nodded and set about creating a mass of thirty shadow clones to keep the freshly hatching genomorphs off their backs. That didn't do much about the large mammoth like creatures that were blocking the path to the front, though. Everyone quickly dodged passed them, but Superboy had a different tactic.

With a beastial yell, Superboy jumped forward and started laying a royal smackdown on his genomorph brothers. The ferocity of his punches and the size of his opponents sent tremors running through the whole complex.

"Superboy! The goal is to escape! Not to bury ourselves here!" Aqualad had a point. If it kept up like this, the whole place would collapse onto their heads.

With another roar of anger, Superboy picked up one of the downed mammoth genomorphs and threw it at two others. With his anger vented, Superboy and the group continued to make their way out of the underground lab while Shinobi's cadre of clones was busy delaying any forces from behind.

"These lower levels have no stairway access. We have to find an elevator shaft and get to a level above thirty," Guardian explained as they ran down another hallway. Eventually they came to an elevator entrance, which Aqualad quickly forced open. Robin shot his grapple gun upwards at the opposite wall, grabbed Kid Flash, and started ascending the elevator shaft. Before Guardian could protest, Shinobi grabbed him in a fireman's carry and jumped to the opposite wall and began to run up it. Superboy took Aqualad and flew up the shaft.

Flew until he began to fall. "I-I'm falling!" They fell only a few levels before one of Robin's birdarangs was embedded into the wall and Aqualad caught it to halt their descent. "Superman can fly. Why can't I fly?"

"Don't know, but it looks like you_ can_ leap tall buildings in a single bound! Still cool," Kid Flash said encouragingly before pulling him down to the thin ledge that marked sublevel fifteen. Before anything else could be said on the subject, there was a loud noise and they looked up to see the elevator coming down very quickly. Superboy punched in the doors that led out into the sublevel and they escaped the elevator shaft as the elevator itself rocketed passed their previous position.

They were being approached by another slew of genomorphs from the left before Guardian started leading them to the stairwell. When they opened the door to the stairwell, the group was greeted by the sight of even more genomorphs coming at them from above and below.

Kid Flash quickly started running up the stairway, knocking the genomorphs blocking his path aside like bowling pins, while Shinobi created a large Rasengan in his hand and used it to destroy the stairs leading down. With the way cleared of more genomorphs they made good time up the stairs to sublevel one, where the encountered a new problem in the form of a giant, several-foot-thick door. Superboy and Aqualad tried to pry it open with their superior strength but it was no use.

Robin's holographic interface materialized above his glove again but he said, "I can't hack this fast enough."

"I'll make sure you have enough time!" Shinobi exclaimed. He put his hands together in a cross shaped seal and in a giant cloud of smoke thirty clones appeared before him. The clones immediately charged at the genomorphs that had been approaching from behind, but before combat could commence the horns on all the genomes started to glow red and immediately all the clones poofed out of existence. Shinobi could barely register his surprise at his clones being decimated so easily before he felt a foreign presence in his was a sharp pain in his head and soon he was collapsed with the rest of the group.

The humanoid genomorph from before walked to the forefront of the mob of genomorphs, his large horns also glowing. He and Superboy seemed to have a mental conversation, before the pain in Shinobi's mind subsided and he regained control of his faculties. He was certain if Kurama was in any state to do so, he would have rebuffed that mental attack before it even started.

As the rest of the group came to their senses, Superboy said, "I choose freedom."

"I think not. My weapon won't just walk away so easily. Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus, and Project Deadman will show the rest of you genomorphs exactly what your place is: under me! SOLOMON!" After he said his piece, Desmond took the vial he was holding and downed the contents in one gulp. The effects were immediate. He doubled over in apparent pain before his muscles started bulging and increasing in size. His size increased to the point where his clothes were torn off and his skin followed soon after, revealing the grey-skinned, red-eyed, massive creature inside. When the transformation was complete, Desmond, now Blockbuster, let out a beastial roar.

That roar seemed to be a signal for another peculiar series of events to start. First there was a loud rhythmic stomping sound. Soon it was joined by a deep voice that was just short of a roar itself.

"Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday. Christened on Tuesday, and married on Wednesday. Took ill on Thursday, grew worse on Friday. Died on Saturday, and buried on Sunday. That was the end..." The wall to the right of the group exploded and out of the smoke came something worse than Blockbuster. "OF SOLOMON GRUNDY!"

In the dust and rubble of what was once a wall stood a veritable giant of a man. He was easily ten feet tall and half as wide, with white skin and hair, body covered in the tattered remains of a black suit many sizes too small. This was Project Deadman.

Shinobi snapped into action immediately and charged at the greater threat. "You guys take the scientist, I'll handle little Solomon here!" He shoved a quickly formed Rasengan into Grundy's gut. Grundy was pushed back a step or two, but was left largely unaffected. He had felt no pain and the spiral signature of the Rasengan was ignored by the undead behemoth. Shinobi knew that this was going to take a little more effort than his usual fights.

He quickly made a larger Rasengan in an attempt to create space for himself, but Grundy just caught it in his massive hand as easily as catching a baseball. He held it, showing no signs of pain, until his immense strength won out, the Rasengan bursting and his grip closed on Shinobi's arm. This was going to hurt. With an enraged roar, Grundy threw Shinobi threw the ceiling and followed after him with a powerful jump, widening the hole created by the ninja's body.

Shinobi had bounced off the ceiling and landed in a groaning heap on the ground in a large room that served as an atrium for what the public knew as Project Cadmus. He stood up in a shaky manner, before he shook himself off and strengthened his resolve. Grundy wanted to play rough, so it was time to play rough. First, he needed some room. A quickly formed Odama Rasengan to the outer wall opened a sizable hole into the parking lot. Night had fallen; the lot and the street adjacent to it were deserted except for a few cars parked here and there. A perfect place for him to let loose a little.

Project Deadman followed him through the hole in the wall, making it twice as large in the process, and was met by Shinobi standing in the empty parking lot, undoing the weights on his wrists and ankles. Now was not the time for weighing himself down. The weights dropped onto the asphalt and cracks spiderwebbed out from where each had fallen. "Let's do this, tiny! I ain't got all night!"

Grundy rose to the challenge and began to charge, only for his target to disappear and reappear in front of him, foot firmly planted in his face. "Dynamic entry! There's more where that came from, so come on!"

Solomon raised his hand and brought it down upon his target, only to discover he wasn't there anymore. Shinobi reappeared a ways away, hand out and fingers curling inwards in a beckoning gesture. The fight was on.

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They had been doing this for a few minutes now and even though Grundy couldn't land a hit, nothing Shinobi did seemed to have any effect whatsoever. He was doing damage as was obvious by Grundy's many wounds, but the giant man didn't feel any pain. He needed to hit him harder, a scary prospect considering the massive force he was already putting behind every hit. Or perhaps harder wasn't the answer. Kakashi had taught him only a few lightning based jutsu in their last year training together. Lightning based jutsu had the uncanny ability to cause pain in even the toughest opponent. It was settled then, Shinobi went through five quick hand seals and afterwards his hands crackled with electricity. The Lightning Hands technique would allow him to shock Grundy's nervous system directly with every hit. And if this didn't work, he would have to resort to more lethal measures.

Shinobi disappeared once again and reappeared with his electrified fist in Grundy's gut. The walking monolith finally showed some sign of being affected by something he did. Grundy's roar of rage only drew more furious punches to his midsection, but Shinobi had underestimated his resilience and Grundy managed to smack him away like so much rubbish. Shinobi rolled to his feet and dropped his Lightning Hands Technique. He was on the right track, but it wasn't enough.

He rocketed through another set of hand seals and announced the name of his technique, "Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu!" A large beast made of lightning emerged from his left hand and ran towards Grundy. This was one of Kakashi's own unique jutsu. The beast would remain connected to his hand, limiting his jutsu use as long as he wanted to keep it active and in control, but it also provided the benefit of allowing him to pump as much of his power as he need into the beast to get the job done. It had been hard to learn, considering he had no affinity for lightning release, but it was paying off now. The beast had latched onto one of Solomon Grundy's extremely thick wrists and was sending a constant electrical current running through his giant body and wreaking havoc on his nervous system.

With Grundy off balance, Shinobi went in for the kill. Another dynamic entry dropped Grundy onto his back. He jumped onto the downed man's chest and started laying haymaker punches on his face, creating cracks and eventually a small crater in the asphalt under it. This was it, Grundy was on the ropes, one more big hit would do it. Shinobi allowed the lightning beast to disperse and blurred through yet another series of hand seals. "Raiton: Hiraishin!" When he was finished he held his hand up to the sky and a second later a bolt came down and struck it. The lightning was conducted through Shinobi's body and into the downed giant.

With a final roar of pain, Solomon Grundy was defeated.

Shinobi breathed a sigh of satisfaction. It wasn't nearly on the level of his fight Tobi, but it was a fun fight, if not very challenging. It seemed to him the people (excepting a certain few) in this reality weren't very strong so it was a surprise to find someone who could stand up to his hits for so long, even if he wasn't using Sage Mode or Kurama's chakra. He patted the giant on his head and said, "That was pretty fun, big guy. Rest up and maybe we'll get to do this again some day."

"That's all you have to say about that?! You just took that guy out single-handed! And it was fun?" It seemed the group had managed to defeat the Blockbuster creature and here they were now, battered and bruised with their clothing tattered, but still whole. Kid Flash was the one who had spoken and Shinobi answered.

"Well, yeah. It was fun. Usually I have to hold back so much, but this guy, he could take it. I only get this kinda rush when I'm sparring against Superman." At that Superboy stepped up, leaving Kid Flash to his own speechlessness.

"You know Superman? Can you introduce me to him?" He desperately wanted to meet the man who he'd been meant to replace.

"Well, yeah, I guess, but-"

"Shinobi!" And there he was now, the Man of Steel was swooping down upon them, the moon providing a suitably dramatic backdrop. It seemed the entire Justice League was following behind him.

"See? I'll do you one better and introduce you to the whole gang." Shinobi laid his hand on Superboy's shoulder, but it was quickly brushed off and the clone started walking towards Superman. He stopped in front of him and pulled on a piece of his torn solar suit to reveal the large red 'S' on the front framed by a diamond.

Superman's eyes widened and Batman leaned in towards him and asked, "Is that what I think it is?"

Kid Flash came to Superboy's defense. "He doesn't like being called an _it_."

"I'm Superman's clone!" And just like that, the secret was out. The League shared looks of surprise and discomfort and Batman narrowed his eyes and gave one order.

"Start talking."

A/N: This is as good a place to stop as any, considering the rest of the episode is some quite dry dialogue that I can quickly gloss over in the beginning of the next chapter. I think the next one will likely deal with a unique solo adventure for Naruto, that will lead into his helping Kurama much further down the road. I didn't want to show the Blockbuster fight 'cause it was so boring and nothing would have been added by Naruto's participation other than a quicker resolution. Also, regarding Kurama, Naruto can still access his power, much in the way he did when he first subdued him, but Kurama's consciousness is not there to give it willingly. He'll be back, but it won't be until much later. Well, I've got a final today, but my next one isn't until tuesday, so I'll try to get the next chapter out on the weekend.

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	6. Chapter 6

A/N: This chapter deals with magic and demons and other such occult subjects. Not my favorite part of the DC Universe, but I'll endeavor to do it justice.

Chapter 6

It was July 9th and Naruto was in Gotham City. He had come here seeking Jason Blood, an expert in demonology and the occult; the world's foremost, in fact. Naruto just hoped this meant he was the guy to ask about this problem. If he was going to find answers regarding Kurama's condition, he wouldn't find them alone, that was for sure.

After the Cadmus debacle, the younger heroes had all been adamant in forming their own team and branching out on their own in some way. The League had relented and the next day they had been brought to Mount Justice, where they were going to form a new team that could operate covertly where the Justice League could not. Of course this new responsibility came with limitations, but these were lessened somewhat by their introduction to a new recruit: M'gann M'orzz, the Martian Manhunter's niece. It was a nice development, all in all, but Naruto's main concern was not with this new status; he was more worried about Superman's lack of acceptance for Superboy.

Superboy had found loyal friends in his rescuers from Cadmus, but when it came to his genetic donor, he encountered nothing but awkward silences and cold rebuffs of his attempts to try to get closer to him. It was a bad situation and Naruto didn't want to get involved, but he knew he would likely end up giving Superman a thorough chewing out in the days to come.

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Shinobi was at a loss. He had found his way to Gotham City easily enough; an Atlas Map had told him what roads to follow from Metropolis, which resided on the west side of the Hudson, north of New York City, to Gotham, which was on the south end of New Jersey, resting on the shores of the Delaware Bay. He ran at a good clip of seventy to eighty miles per hour on the side of major roads, in an effort to make sure he didn't get lost, but still found himself missing his exits every once in awhile. The trip took a few hours and when he reached Gotham City, the Sun was almost on the horizon and he had no idea where to look for Jason Blood.

The man's address wasn't listed in a phone book, and he couldn't just walk around asking people on the street; they were likely just as ignorant as he was and he wanted to keep this visit quick and quiet. Batman would have many questions if he found out that Shinobi had left Metropolis and run all the way down to Gotham for some unknown reason.

Now, hours after his arrival, Naruto sat on the rooftop of a high-rise building, with his mask pulled down, while he busily slurped a cup of instant noodles that he'd had to Henge to buy. The Sun had set about an hour before, and Naruto was cursing his lack of research before heading to this city. He had brought his Atlas as well, but without a point of reference and a destination it was useless to him. Naruto was at the end of his rope and it would probably take a miracle to find Jason Blood in a city this size.

The miracle came in the form of an explosion a few streets away. It was perfect. Batman would respond quickly to trouble in his own city and he would likely bring Robin with him too. If Naruto could get to Robin without Batman knowing, he could certainly convince him to help locate Jason Blood.

He quickly discarded the cup of noodles and ripped the Gotham page out of his Atlas and folded it before he stored it in a pouch; he'd probably need it before the night was through. Naruto pulled up his facemask and with a running start leaped off the building in the direction of the explosion.

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Despite his proximity to the explosion, it seemed Batman and Robin managed to arrive at the same time as Shinobi. It seemed the explosion had taken place at the Gotham Museum of Antiquities. Shinobi stood on the rooftop of an adjacent building and watched Batman say a few words to Robin before entering the smoking building using one of the windows that had been blown out. There wasn't a large fire and most of the smoke seemed to be caused by the initial explosion.

Robin shot his grapple gun upwards and made his way to the museum rooftop. It seemed Shinobi wouldn't even have to try to separate them. At any rate, he wouldn't get a better chance than this.

Shinobi jumped across the wide street, bridging the gap to the shorter museum with ease. He landed silently behind Robin who was crouched in front of an open metal box with a cord leading into it from his glove. It didn't take Shinobi long to suss out that Robin was hacking into some system in the Museum for whatever reason. It didn't matter much to him, this was Batman's show, Shinobi just needed some information and he would be on his way. He tapped on Robin's shoulder and the reaction he received did not disappoint.

Robin gave a startled jump and turned around, explosive disk in his hand and ready to be thrown.

"Holy crap! Shinobi, what are you doing here!? How'd you sneak up on me?"

"I'm a ninja. Remember?" Shinobi answered in a deadpan voice. "Anyway, that doesn't matter right now. I need to ask a favor, and I can't let Batman or the League find out." It was asking a lot for Robin to go behind his mentor, but the awkwardness that arose after Speedy's scene at the Hall of Justice had not faded yet and Shinobi was hoping that would be enough for Robin to help him.

Robin turned back to the holographic interface above his glove, smoothly returning the explosive disk to one of his many pouches. "Yeah, well, I'm a little busy right now. Don't know if you noticed. And going behind Batman's back? That's a pretty big favor."

"What's a favor or two between friends? C'mon, man. I'll owe you one!" Shinobi was getting desperate; if Robin couldn't help him, he would have to go to someone else, and in this city his options were pretty slim. He took out his folded map and presented it to Robin. "Look, I just need you to point out a location on this map. You can do that, can't you?"

Robin regarded him out of the corner of his eye for a second before sighing. "All right, but you're gonna owe me big time. Where do you need to go?"

"I need to find some guy called Jason Blood. He's some sort of expert on demons and he lives here in Gotham."

Robin looked away from his glove again and regarded Shinobi more closely. "What do you need a demonologist for? And why can't the League know?"

"It's personal, alright? I can't have them in my business all the time, you know. Besides I'm nineteen and I've been an adult since I was thirteen, those guys don't need to to know about everything I do." It was true, Shinobi had become an adult in the eyes of his village when he'd graduated the academy and become a part of Team Seven, and by the time he'd come to this reality he was already eighteen, the age for adulthood in this world. The Justice League couldn't expressly forbid him from going where he pleased and if it wasn't for his desire to avoid questions, Shinobi wouldn't have been nearly so careful in his efforts to find Jason Blood.

"Fair enough, I guess. Jason Blood doesn't actually live _in_ Gotham. He's got a big house just outside the city limits." Robin pointed at an area on the very edge of the map and Shinobi made a note of it. "Remember, you owe me big for this. And I mean it. I'm going to collect some day."

"Sure thing, Robin, and thanks, man. I really mean it." Shinobi walked away and quickly found the museum as a point of reference on the map. "Whatever you need, Robin, you know you can count on me!"

With his thank-yous said and a direction to travel in, Shinobi set off, leaping onto an adjacent building and running up until he disappeared over the rooftop.

With no more distractions, Robin finished his hack of the museum security systems and a feed of the museum cameras appeared in his holographic interface. He rewound the feed until just before the museum explosion and found what he was looking for in the frame of one of the cameras. There was a teenager in a black suit and tie with black hair that had two spikes on the sides that resembled devil horns. Robin watched him walk around in an unconcerned manner for a few seconds before a cat with ginger fur and tiger stripes ran into frame, carry a long black stick in its mouth.

The teenager took the stick from the cat's mouth and examined it closely before seemingly deciding he had what he came for. A large amount of foreboding red energy gathered in the teenager's hand and he left it floating in the air where it pulsated in a very ominous manner. The boy then gathered up his pet and look at the camera with a smirk on his face. The boy and the cat both seemed to break down and blow away as ash on a nonexistent wind. This was followed by the red ball of energy exploding in quite a grand manner before the camera feed cut to static.

Robin rewound back to when the boy was smirking at the camera and cross referenced his face with Batman's database of major and minor criminals. A match was found very quickly.

"Klarion the Witch Boy?"

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Jason Blood lived in, as Robin said, a big house. Though perhaps 'big' wasn't a descriptive enough adjective. It was a large Victorian mansion painted in a mocha color with dark tiles on the roof. It was three stories tall at its highest point and was dotted with fancy looking windows, the lowest of which were protected by wrought iron grating, likely there to deter thieves.

The house was surrounded on all sides by a recently mown lawn, that gave way to a line of coniferous trees that marked the beginning of an undisturbed forest. There was no gate and no fence, only a lonely dirt road that terminated at the steps of the house and split some distance before to lead to a garage that was removed from the main house itself.

Shinobi walked up the dirt path, in plain view, approaching the house like he assumed any other visitor might. It made sense; he wasn't here to hurt the resident, and sneaking in would only make him look exponentially more suspicious. If Shinobi was going to get the answers he wanted, a direct and friendly approach was for the best.

The ninja climbed the front steps and rang the doorbell. Of course, he didn't take into account the late hour, or the fact that he had shown up, unannounced, at a house that might as well have been in the middle of nowhere. He stood there for a while, shifting restlessly from one foot to the other, until he heard rustling coming from behind the door. This rustling was followed by a crash and some muted cursing before the familiar sound of locks being undone greeted Shinobi's ears. The door opened and he finally got a look at Jason Blood.

He was a caucasian man, standing an inch or two taller than Shinobi's own not inconsiderable height of six feet, and built like a football player. It appeared he hadn't been sleeping either, despite the late hour, because he was wearing a pair of khaki slacks, a white oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a black leather belt to hold it all together. When he spoke, it was with an English accent.

"Shinobi, the self-proclaimed ninja from Metropolis. Does Superman know you're here?"

"No, and it's gotta stay that way. This is a personal visit."

"What could we possibly have to discuss? Personal or otherwise."

"Demons, Mr. Blood. I need to know why a demon, a really powerful one, would just stop. Like, I don't know, he just won't react to anything. Completely catatonic."

Jason let out a contemplative hum and said, "well, that could happen for any number of reasons. I would have to know the circumstances surrounding this mysterious catatonia to form a hypothesis. Could you take me to this demon?"

"If it's all the same to you, I'll describe what was going on before whatever happened to him happened, but I won't tell you his name and I can't let you see him. He's my partner, my friend. I can't just trust that you won't hurt him. Even if you look like an alright guy." There was no way Shinobi was going to put Kurama's safety in the hands of a stranger. Asking for information was one thing, letting this man have any power over the nine-tailed fox was quite another.

"Well, I suppose you should come in. I'll need to consult my books and you've a story to tell."

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"Hmm, that narrows the possibilities down quite a bit, I should think. " Blood stood and walked over to a bookshelf in his library.

The two of them had adjourned to his library a quarter of an hour ago and Shinobi had proceeded to tell him of his and Kurama's crossing between realities and the demon's resulting catatonic state. The library was a moderately large room with bookshelves lining all the walls, filled to the brim with leather bound tomes, loosely bound manuscripts (that were given a shelf all their own), and more conventional hardcover textbooks. There was a fireplace, currently unlit, situated in a wall perpendicular to the doorway, and there were two comfortable chairs sat in front of it, with a small table between them.

Jason perused the contents of one of the bookshelves and pulled one of the leather bound tomes and quickly flipped to the page he wanted. He turned back to Shinobi and quoted, "On the subject of dimensional travel: When travel between two or more universes is forced it is entirely possible for the demon's soul to become entrapped in the inbetween space."

"What's the inbetween space and how do I get him out of there?" This was it, after nearly a year he would finally receive answers, he would finally be able to help Kurama.

"Well, to put it simply, the inbetween space is a plane of existence that saturates through all realities that we humans call the multiverse. Sorcerers call it the astral plane, demons refer to it as limbo, the point is that when a being enters it by accident, it becomes nearly impossible to leave the inbetween space." When he saw the crestfallen look on Shinobi's face, Blood quickly continued, "though I did say _nearly_ impossible. If you have access to his anchor in this reality, his body, it becomes altogether a much simpler manner to return him. All we have to do is-"

Jason Blood did not get to finish his statement because a very large ginger sabretoothed cat with tiger stripes had crashed through the outside wall, scattering books, wood, and dust everywhere. The sabretooth took a moment to assess the occupants of the room before settling on Jason and pouncing. It seemed it would hit its mark, that is until it was violently blindsided by a very angry Shinobi. He tackled the cat into the wall and broke through it, sending them both sprawling onto the lawn on the other side. Shinobi gathered himself first.

"HEY! We were havin' a conversation, asshole!" As soon as the sabretooth had righted itself, Shinobi disappeared. The beast didn't have time to register surprise before the ninja reappeared with a leg raised over his head, chambered in what was sure to be a devastating kick. "Well, you wanted to to play, kitty. So, let's play!"

His leg dropped and the sabretooth's world dissolved into a blur of blistering blows and pain. A whole lot of pain.

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Jason started walking over to the second hole that had been put in his wall within as many minutes. It was certainly a nuisance, but it wasn't like he didn't have the money to repair them. What he was really concerned about were his many and rare books; those were irreplaceable. He was going to look out to see what had become of his guest and the intruder before he heard a voice coming from behind him.

"Little Jason Blood! I don't see what the big deal was all about. Vandal was so insistent you were some big shot demon, but all I see is a weak little ol' human." Jason turned and saw the Lord of Chaos known as Klarion the Witch Boy standing in his library. Before Jason could formulate a retort, Klarion gathered a small amount of red energy on the tip of his finger before using his thumb to mimic the hammer on a gun and firing the energy at him. Jason immediately dived to the side, landing behind one of the chairs.

"Ja-son! Come out, come out wherever you are! You're supposed to be strong, Jason! Show me some of that strength." Klarion called out, before his form flickered, becoming transparent for a moment. He had to hurry this up; Teekl, his familiar, was getting knocked around while he dealt with this dalliance. Vandal Savage had assured him that Jason Blood would surprise him, he just had to draw it out of him first. Well, if Klarion was asking for a surprise, he certainly got it.

"Gone! Gone! The form of man. Rise, the Demon, Etrigan!" There was a flash of hellfire and then a demonic roar. The chair Jason Blood had been hiding behind was smacked away like so much rubbish and in its place stood something different.

Jason Blood had turned into a demon. He had lost a whole foot in height and gained as much in width. The demon, Etrigan, was squat and extremely muscular, with burnt orange skin, red eyes, and ears that looked more like bat wings than anything else. He wore a skin tight red unitard with metal cuffs at the wrists and a black belt. Along with that, he also wore a blue cape and a fearsome snarl.

"Now this is more like it, Jason!" This was good! In a moment Klarion would have what he came for and he could go teach that jerk that was smacking Teekl around a lesson.

"The man is gone! I am Etrigan, and you are dead!" With his piece said, Etrigan covered the distance between him and Klarion with a powerful leap. The intent was clear: to rip Klarion to shreds. The only sign that something was wrong was the smirk that spread across the Witch Boy's face.

As soon as Etrigan had started to move, Klarion had snapped his fingers and in his hand materialized a long black brand, made of wrought iron and covered from handle to head in archaic runes that were glowing red with Klarion's magic. He held the brand out and let the demon do the rest of the work.

The brand was thrust into the middle of Etrigan's chest and immediately started to burn into his skin. He fell back to the ground in a heap and laid there for a few moments. On his chest there was now an angry black brand in the shape of a circle with a simple 'I' in the middle.

Klarion admired the brand and said, "the Imperium Brand. Works just as advertised! Stand, Etrigan! It's time to play."

The demon stood and, after a moment, kneeled in front of Klarion. "As you command, my master."

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Shinobi was currently taking his frustration out on this supernaturally durable sabretoothed beast. He was so close to the solution to his problems he could almost taste it, and this thing had tried to take it from him. It was unfair, really. The beast could hardly defend itself, and it was only still alive by virtue of its durability.

With a final grunt of frustration he kicked the sabretooth a distance away where it fell and didn't stand up again. Shinobi prepared to return to the library. It had targeted Jason, so he could probably explain what it was, and the ninja had to get his own answers as well.

"Teekl!"

Shinobi turned back towards the best to see that a teenager wearing black clothing with a dumb hairstyle had appeared and was consoling the whimpering beast.

"And just who the hell are you, huh!?" It was enough that this monster had tried to kill Jason, but now its apparent master was here as well. "You want an ass kicking too?"

The boy looked up with hate in his eyes and said, "I don't think it's me you should be worrying about. Etrigan!"

Before Shinobi could suss out what he meant and why he had yelled out that weird word, he was tackled from the side by a red and orange figure. From his position on the ground, he groaned and looked up at his orange and red attacker who was straddling his chest and raising both fists in preparation to smear his brains all over the lawn like so much jam on toast. Well, he wasn't just going to let that happen.

With a small grunt of effort, Shinobi's legs shot up from behind Etrigan and he interlocked his ankles around the demon's neck and slammed him back down to the ground. It was a textbook execution of the technique, but he didn't expect Etrigan to be down for long. Shinobi regained his feet and backed away a small distance, where he started to flash through hand seals. Before he could finish, he had to jump away. A blast of red energy had impacted where he'd been standing.

Shinobi glared at klarion and said, "two versus one, huh? Okay, I'll kick both your asses and I won't even break a sweat." Klarion looked ready to dismiss his claims before the ninja disappeared from his vision completely. The next Klarion knew he was flying up into the air and his chin was throbbing in pain.

Shinobi had hit him with a strong uppercut, but that wasn't the end of it. Klarion's flight path drastically changed and he looked down to his upper arms to see there were thin, almost imperceptible, wires attached there. He'd never seen Shinobi attach them and they weren't tied around his arms, but held there by some unknown force.

Shinobi pulled on the ninja wire he had in his hands and swung around in a full circle, bringing Karion around in full circle. The distance was just right, he was going to use the Witch Boy as a weapon to hit Etrigan, who had started running towards him as soon as he'd started the maneuver.

Etrigan braced himself for impact, but Klarion had exploded into black ashes as soon as he made contact with the demon. This didn't deter Shinobi however, with one target lost, he focused his might on the demon. With a blur of speed he closed the distance landed a devastating flying knee to Etrigan's face. The demon landed on his back and Shinobi was quick to press the advantage. He straddled the demon's chest and raised his interlocked hands and brought them down in three earth shaking hammer blows upon Etrigan's head before he was forced to dodge away from a large blast of red energy that had the added benefit of striking the enemy in his stead.

A quick hand seal created four clones and they all dashed away to Klarion's new position a short distance behind where he'd been laying the smackdown upon Etrigan. With the clones focusing on Klarion, Shinobi turned his attention back to the dazed Etrigan and wrapped both hands around one of his thick wrists.

Klarion had barely managed to dispel the four clones, before the original reappeared holding Etrigan by his wrist. Klarion's eyes widened when he realized the ninja's plan. Shinobi spun and swung the demon over his head and down onto Klarion. Etrigan impacted onto a hastily erected red bubble. The ninja would not be stopped however. He continued to swing Etrigan like a warhammer against the shield. Eventually the demon might regain his senses, but not while Shinobi was using him as a very effective weapon. Klarion's frustration mounted and with an angry snarl a circle of glowing runes appeared around his feet.

As Etrigan came down on final time the shield burst, but with the burst of the shield came a rapid buildup of energy under Shinobi's feet. His eyes widened before the energy erupted in a red pillar and shot him up into the air. He'd been forced to let go of his improvised weapon and when he landed he immediately prepared to go on the defensive. However, that didn't appear to be necessary. Klarion had taken Etrigan and regrouped with his beast.

"You think you're so tough!? I'll be back, and when I am, you won't be so lucky!" Klarion had had enough, and his petulant demeanor was starting to show.

"Luck!? I beat you guys up and down this field like you were my shitty step-children! If you think that's luck why don't you say it to my foot and see if he agrees!?" Shinobi once again blurred into motion. He covered the distance between him and his targets in less than a second, but it was already too late. When he reappeared with a spinning kick, his attack hit nothing but air. Klarion had used his disappearing trick and run away with the demon and the beast in tow.

Shinobi stood at the ready for a few moments, in case it was a trick to get him to drop his guard for a sneak attack, but when it became obvious that Klarion was gone, he let out a frustrated sigh.

"Figures that guy was all talk. What a pussy."

With a barely noticed hand seal, a retinue of ten clones appeared around him. "Go find Jason, and do it fast. Batman'll probably be here soon." The clones all saluted and set off to do their job. Shinobi would have joined them in a second were it not for the three presences he felt behind him.

"You have some explaining to do." Shinobi would recognize that voice anywhere. Batman. He muttered a curse under his breath before turning around. He was met with the sight of not only Batman, but Robin and Superman as well.

"I know this looks bad, but I beat the bad guys. Everything's good! When Jason gets out here, he'll tell you all about it!" At that moment his clones all dispersed and he received the knowledge that Jason Blood was not, in fact, in his house and he could not explain anything.

"Ah, shit."

A/N: This one took awhile to get out, and I have no excuses to offer you guys except for a feeling of general apathy that I felt towards doing pretty much anything once my classes were done for the semester. Actually, I was gonna finish this up yesterday, but Metro: Last Light came out. I had to play the hell out of it. Right? Anyway, I'm gonna try to get back on track and hopefully there won't be so long a wait between this and the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

One week after the incident in Gotham found Naruto sitting in his apartment, reviewing a file passed on to him by Batman detailing the abilities, temperament, and former movements of Klarion the Witch Boy.

After Klarion had made his escape with Etrigan, the questions had come, as Naruto had expected them to. It was a worst case scenario, exactly what he had been trying to avoid from the very beginning, but, as it turned out, Batman and Superman were a lot more understanding than Naruto assumed they would be. Though, if he was being honest, he expected more anger on Batman's part.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Naruto decided to reveal his intentions for coming to Gotham City. Or at least half of the truth. He had told them that he came to Gotham seeking Jason Blood's demonic expertise. This much was true, but the rest had consisted of some cock and bull story about investigating the possibility that a demon might be able to get him back to his home reality.

It was low, lying to the people that had helped him so readily when he had come to this world, and it left a bad taste in Naruto's mouth, but there was something to be said about being careful with his secrets. The fewer people that knew about Kurama, the safer they would both be. There was no telling the trouble that would rain down on his and the League's head if the wrong people found out about Kurama's existence. One Akatsuki was enough, he didn't need more mad men killing his friends to try to get at his partner.

Of course, once the situation had been explained, there came the question of taking responsibility for Jason Blood's disappearance. Batman had informed him of the dual nature of Blood's existence. He was at once a man and a demon. Naruto had also been told of the Imperius Brand, the tool that Klarion had stolen from a museum earlier that night and used to control Jason's other half, Etrigan. Batman was stern, one of the sternest men Naruto had ever met, but he was also kind, to a point, and fair. It was decided that Naruto would be given the chance to right his own mistake. Batman had given him a file that created a profile of Klarion and Naruto would be in charge of finding him, bringing him to justice, and freeing Etrigan.

There was, of course, the fact that Klarion had no usual haunts or hideouts, and that he hadn't been seen since his escape, but Naruto was nothing if not resourceful. Klarion would be found, and Naruto would get his answers.

Naruto's studying was interrupted by his communicator ringing. He hastily shoved the small radio into his ear and pressed down on the button to receive the call.

"Go for Shinobi."

"Hey, it's Robin. We're all going on a team outing, you know to bond and stuff. Catch a teleporter to Star City, we'll meet you there."

The line cut off before Naruto could say anything about it. He sighed, stood, and stretched. He was getting nowhere studying this file over and over again. Maybe an outing with friends was just what he needed. He suited up quickly and made his way to the nearest location with a zeta-beam teleporter tube.

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Shinobi was hopping in a leisurely manner across the low rooftops of Suicide Slum. The zeta-beam teleporter was located in the basement of a hotel in New Troy. This begged the question of why the league would trust their main method of quick travel to remain undiscovered in the basement of a very public place, but Batman knew what he was doing. If the League trusted him to choose these locations, Shinobi supposed that was enough for him.

Shinobi arrived at the bridge that crossed Hobb's River and would take him north into New Troy, and jumped onto the suspender and started running across it. He let his body travel on auto-pilot; his mind was on other things. Mainly, it was on how he would find Klarion. It was a large world and he could be in any corner of it. Hell, he'd had a hard enough time finding Jason Blood in one city, finding Klarion, a sorcerer who who didn't want to be found, would be much harder.

He'd reached the top of the first tower of the bridge and stopped to take in the view. The city always looked beautiful from above. You couldn't see all the filth and grime that covered the streets, only a tapestry of lights and darkness that reminded him of the sky back home. He turned his gaze upward, although the city was so bright he could never see the stars and he knew only a vast abyss of empty sky would greet him.

Shinobi watched the dark sky and lost himself for a few moments in the stillness that he could never find in Metropolis. That is until a streak of light like a shooting star lit up against the blackness. He watched it for a second and even considered making a wish until it became readily apparent that the light, whatever it was was coming closer and closer. In fact, it was coming right at him.

Before whatever this light was could strike, Shinobi neatly sidestepped it, taking note of the immense heat of the object before it flew by, back into Suicide Slum, and through a building before it was out of sight. Well, that certainly put a damper on the night. Shinobi reached up to his ear and activated his communicator.

"Call Robin, designation B-01."

As the call was going through, Shinobi started making his way back towards Suicide Slum. He couldn't just ignore this, he knew. He had to investigate and see if the people that lived in the building the object had flown through were all unhurt. He reached the building in question and started to run up the side when Robin answered.

"This is Robin."

"Yeah, Robin, something came up. I can't make it out there with you guys. I'll see you tomorrow at the mountain."

"Wait, wha-"

Before Robin had a chance to complain, Shinobi disconnected the communicator. Robin would understand and he had reached the molten hole the object had left in the side of the building. He entered the building and moved through it using the path of destruction. He made it to the other side and surmised that, by some miracle, nobody in the building had been hurt. Looking out of the second hole in the building he saw whatever the object was had crash landed in a small neighborhood park.

There was a trench from where it impacted that led all the way to a parked car that was much the worse for wear. He quickly followed the trench to the car and looked at whatever had caused this much destruction just through its arrival to this planet. What he found was much different than what was expected.

Inside of the wreckage of the car was an extremely beautiful woman. She had long auburn hair, dark orange skin, and was dressed in a purple outfit that left_ very_ little to the imagination. Even stuck in the ruined car like she was, it was obvious that this woman was very tall, perhaps an inch or so taller than Shinobi himself. Her outfit consisted of what was tantamount to a skimpy purple bikini that barely covered her sizable assets and thigh-high purple boots. She also had a some sort of a shoulder cover that ended in a turtleneck collar, though he didn't know what purpose it served if the rest of her outfit was so revealing. He opened one of her eyes to check for any head trauma and was met by solid light-green eyes. There was no iris or sclera, just solid green. What really caught his attention though was the handcuffs that she wore. Though they were less cuffs than heavy duty restraints. They capped off the end of her arms in thick metal and were probably indicative of some form of superhuman strength or ability to project energy from her hands. He had seen stranger powers in his time here, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Shinobi surveyed the street around him and made sure that nobody was hurt. It wouldn't do to leave an injured person out here at this time of night. Suicide Slum was unfriendly to everyone at any time of day, after all. Reassured that there were no injured bystanders about, Shinobi crouched down and extricated this mysterious woman from the wreckage of the car. He held her in his arms and looked at the hastily deserted street once more and decided to leave before a crowd gathered. Shinobi and the unconscious woman disappeared in gust of wind and leaves.

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Koriand'r awoke in a strange place, though the feeling wasn't exactly alien to her. Her sister, Komand'r, had often tortured her into unconsciousness and she was used to waking up in strange and uncomfortable places.

That was another strange thing, though. She was on a bed and her hands were freed. The Psions were always certain to bind her hands, and Komand'r never allowed her to remain unchained for any amount of time. So, if she wasn't in the hands of the Psions that had captured her and her sister, and she wasn't in the hands of the Citadel, where could she possibly be? This certainly didn't look like a slaver ship, so her escape had been successful.

She looked around the room and found clothes scattered about the floor and the remains of her metal bindings that looked like they'd been ground off of her hands by some mysterious force. The bindings lay at the feet of a male wearing a black and orange bodysuit. He was sitting in a chair fiddling with a black knife and immediately looked up when she shifted in the bed. His eyes were blue and his hair was blonde, and when she looked at him he smiled in relief. He said something in excitement but she couldn't understand him.

Koriand'r stood from the bed and walked over to the figure who quickly stood up as well. She touched his face and she could feel him tense up, in preparation for combat, before she leaned in and kissed him. His eyes opened wide in shock and when she broke contact and backed away he immediately went on the offensive.

"What the hell was that? Not that I'm complaining, but why'd you kiss me, huh? And who are you anyway?"

She smiled at his brash attitude before she began to explain.

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Naruto stood in his kitchen, slowly slurping on a cup of instant noodles, while the woman, Koriand'r, was devouring the contents of his refrigerator. He caught a look at her scantily clad backside and blushed before focusing on his noodles once more. He was reminded of the kiss she had given him when she first woke up. She explained that it was a form of lingual assimilation that was common to her species, but he still felt the tingle of her lips on his.

Koriand'r had explained to him the circumstances that had brought her to Earth. She had been given to a rival government by her family to ensure peace for her home planet of Tamaran and had spent six years there before her and her traitorous sister were captured by yet another rival faction called the Psions. There they were experimented on mercilessly before she used a distraction caused by a rescue attempt conducted by her sister's forces to escape. She had flown through space for a long time and blacked out before finally reaching this planet.

It all seemed quite straightforward and Naruto may have believed it if not for the fact that her only pressing concern seemed to be to devour as much food as she possibly could.

"Don't you wanna go back to your home planet or something? Don't you have people waiting for you back home?"

Koriand'r stood up straight in front of the open refrigerator and leaned her head against it. An aura of melancholy seemed to envelop every fiber of her being.

"When my sister betrayed our people and joined the Citadel, she gave them details of all of Tamaran's defenses. Soon after I was given away as a peace offering, she led the Citadel forces in an invasion of Tamaran. My people are gone. There is nothing left for me now."

Naruto was speechless. What did one say to something like that? From what the League told him, he could never go home again, but at least he knew he'd left his world at peace. The enemy was defeated before he had been thrust into this reality, and he could at least rest easy knowing that his friends were happy. Koriand'r had no such comfort. Her family was dead, her people were dead, and her planet was likely occupied by the people who did the killing.

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine what you're feeling," he said lowly.

Koriand'r seemed to perk herself up and quickly gathered a large amount of food in her arms before walking out of the kitchen. She called out from his living room, "don't bother yourself about it. It happened a long time ago."

Naruto followed her out and found her sitting on his couch, food spread over the coffee table while she picked out the things she wanted to eat first. He sat down next to her and watched her sort out the food for a few moments before speaking.

"So, no one's coming to look for you? These citadel people? Your sister? If there's a chance they could follow you here, I've gotta know so I can tell the League."

"My sister would love nothing more than to finish me off herself and complete her revenge against our family. However, when I made my escape they were embroiled in a heated battle. I don't believe they saw me escape, much less were they able to follow me."

Naruto sensed sadness in that statement. Naruto had never had any real family, only his friends, but he could understand being hunted by someone you loved. Sasuke, near the end of his life, had become a being driven by a rage whose source had long since been wiped away. He sought vengeance against Naruto and the remainder of his old comrades for no reason that made sense to anyone except for himself. Naruto had put him down, like a rabid dog, half a year before his final confrontation with Tobi, and it had torn something apart inside of him. There was no feeling worse than fighting against someone you loved; he may never have had a _real_ family, but he understood that much.

Shinobi laid his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it in a gesture of comfort. Koriand'r glanced at him and smiled gratefully before she returned to her meal.

"Well, I've gotta contact someone from the League. I'd let you stay here with me and away from their questions, but you're gonna need their help no matter what you wanna do."

"What is the League?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in ponderance before answering. "The Justice League. I guess you could say they're the protectors of this planet. They do their best to help any innocent soul they can, all over the world. They help the weak and punish people that use their power to bully the little guys."

Koriand'r nibbled at a stick of celery for a moment before devouring it completely. It appeared she'd come to a decision. "Then I will remain here. My people are gone, my planet is in ruins, and I have power that I can use to help the 'little guys', as you said. Besides, I already have one friend here." She smiled brightly at him and Naruto returned it. If that was her choice, then he would support it. That's what friends did for each other.

Shinobi stood from the couch and walked a few steps away. He raised his hand to his communicator again and said, "call Martian Manhunter, designation-" His statement was interrupted by the sound of panicking people and the repeated firing of energy weapons. This was quickly followed by an amplified voice. It was obvious the voice was making some sort of demand, but the impact was lessened by the fact that the voice wasn't speaking any language spoken on Earth.

"They are asking to know where I am. It seems I was followed here," Koriand'r said. She had stood up and her eyes started glowing a brighter green. It seemed she was just spoiling for a fight.

Naruto pulled up his face mask rolled his shoulders in preparation for the coming confrontation.

"Well, Kory, you ready to save the city for the first time ever?"

She nodded and they were off.

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Shinobi and Koriand'r stood on the roof of his apartment building, or at least he stood while she floated in place. It wasn't very tall, only five stories, but it was enough to give them a good vantage point to observe the enemy. There were fifteen that Shinobi could count standing guard around the outside of their ship, which they had landed in the middle of an intersection. From what he could see, they were green-skinned reptilian humanoids and they were covered in black armor that had black wings folded up on the back. It didn't take a genius to surmise that they were capable of flight. If Shinobi had to guess, they would likely take their search airborne as soon as they finished setting up a perimeter for their ship.

Well, he couldn't let them spread out or he might lose his chance at a clean takedown. He turned to Koriand'r and asked, "so, what are your abilities? I mean I could take out the lizard guys and you could take out the ship, or the other way around. I dunno."

"I will destroy the Star-Glider. The Psions left me a new power when they experimented on my sister and I. It's time to put it to good use." She started to float higher and moved until she was directly above the unsuspecting Gordanians.

With the choice made, Shinobi pulled fifteen shuriken from a pouch on his belt. The first order of business would be to take out the weapons. He stacked the shuriken into one neat pillar on his left hand. Next, he closed his eyes and became eerily still, and a moment later they were surrounded by an orange tint. Shinobi opened his eyes and the irises were amber with horizontal bar-like pupils reminiscent of a toad.

Shinobi spread his senses, detecting life signs in a huge area around him. The Gordanians had a unique feeling to them, a sort of cold fury, that made them easy to spot, and Koriand'r burned bright with determination, like a star casting its light upon the world. These signatures were easy to track and he made sure no Gordanians had slipped away into one of the surrounding buildings before deciding to commence the attack. There appeared to be three more of them inside of the ship, but by the time they came out it would be much too late. He looked at Koriand'r and nodded.

As soon as the signal was given he turned back to his targets and began to let fly with his shuriken. He swiped his right hand quickly, back and forth, over his pillar of shuriken, each swipe loosing one more metal projectile covered in wind-natured chakra. His aim was precise and his shuriken all flew true into the energy weapons of the Gordanians. They looked around with a healthy dose of fear and shock and were turning around to retreat into their ship when Koriand'r unleashed Hell from above.

Shinobi had sensed the buildup of energy, but he didn't expect anything like this. From the Tamaranean's hands came a salvo of bright green energy projectiles that bombarded the ship. The wings went first and then the engines before she really started laying into the hull of the ship itself.

With the Gordanians scattered and their weapons disabled, Shinobi decided it was time to join the fray. He jumped from the roof of the building and let out a sharp whistle when he landed. The few aliens around him turned and pulled medieval looking flails from their belts. They began to charge at him. All form of retreat was cut off, and their only recourse was to fight. Their battle cries emboldened their allies and he was soon facing off against the bulk of their squad. Well, there were ways to deal with large crowds.

Shinobi flashed through a set of hand seals and when he was done he took a large breath. When he released it an intensely powerful gust of wind overtook the intersection. The Gordanians were sent flying and cars were moved from their parking spaces. The enemies crashed into their ship, stationary cars, even into each other. When the squall subsided, they all lay on the ground, groaning or just plain unconscious. With his attack completed, Shinobi murmured, "Fuuton: Daitoppa."

He looked around and the damage caused by their attack. It was an easy enough fight to win; these may have been aliens, but, when it came down to it, they were just common rank and file soldiers. Koriand'r landed next to him and look around at her defeated enemies with a vicious smile. The Tamaraneans were a warrior people, after all.

"So, that was some light show you put on. Really cool. But there are still three inside the ship. Probably their leader." It seemed the three Gordanians had decided to rely on the integrity of their ship's hull to protect them, once it had become clear that leaving would likely mean death or incapacitation.

Koriand'r gave him a look of appreciation; from her short glimpse at his abilities she could tell this was a true warrior. It wasn't often you came across somebody who could almost effortlessly decimate a squad of Gordanian soldiers without killing or gravely injuring any of them.

They walked over to the ship and Shinobi knocked on the hull. It was certainly solid, he'd give the Gordanians that much. He looked at Kory and asked, "I don't suppose you're super strong or something?"

"I think I can manage." She thrust her hands into the hull of the ship, piercing through it with some effort and wrenched open a large hole through which they could fit. Shinobi pulled her to the side as fire from energy weapons filled the space she had been previously occupying. He sighed and flashed through a series of hand seals and activated his Lightning Hands technique.

Shinobi looked at Koriand'r and said, "I'm gonna electrify the whole ship, it'll stun them for a bit, so when I let go, I need you to go in there and pull them out." She nodded and he set his hands on the hull of the ship. Sparks, small explosions, and screams were heard from the ship before Shinobi removed his hands and all went silent.

Koriand'r was quick to enter the ship and after a moment three Gordanians flew out, followed swiftly by the femme fatale herself. One of the Gordanians was clad in golden armor, a clear sign of command. He knocked them all out with quick chops to the backs of their necks and prepared to make the call that had been interrupted earlier in the night.

"Call Martian Manhunter, designation 07."

A/N: This one's definitely shorter than the previous few chapters. It was mostly just introduction to a new character and I threw a fight in there so it didn't get too stale, though the quality of the enemies was really just subpar. I needed someone to come after Starfire without jumping right into the confrontation with her sister too quickly. At any rate, Klarion is by no means safe, and Naruto hasn't forgotten about him. You can be sure of that. Next chapter we'll get the interactions with the main team back underway and the fight with Mister Twister, though I'm considering retooling it because of the general blandness that comes with a Red Tornado wannabe. Also, if anyone's interested, the image I used when describing Koriand'r is the second image on Google image search. Just in case someone doesn't know what she looks like or what have you. Hope you enjoy, I guess.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After the Gordanian retrieval squad had been defeated, Shinobi called Martian Manhunter to detain the enemy and to explain Koriand'r's arrival to Earth. He knew J'onn would want to interrogate her, but when the truth of her story was determined, the League would be more than supportive of her efforts to start a new life on this planet.

J'onn had arrived with the Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan and John Stewart, in tow. Their power rings made it extremely convenient to transport the large group of Gordanians and the ruins of their ship. The Lanterns quickly gathered them up and made their exit; after all, if the beautiful new arrival to Earth turned out to be less than friendly, they had no doubt that Shinobi and Martian Manhunter could handle the threat together.

Manhunter, Shinobi, and Koriand'r retreated to his apartment where the Martian proceeded to ask Koriand'r to recount the tale of her escape and arrival to this planet. Within half an hour, Manhunter had determined Koriand'r's honesty and raised a new issue.

"Where will she stay?" It was a valid question. Even Naruto had had to spend a few nights at Superman's place before Batman had set him up with this apartment.

"She can stay here for as long as she needs to, I guess. I mean, I only really sleep and eat here nowadays, and I've slept in worse places than on a couch. Besides, I'm her only real friend here. I can't just leave her hanging." It was no great imposition, Naruto's apartment was less a home than a base camp he used to store his things and catch forty winks before he was off again, laying down the law in Suicide Slum and Metropolis at large. "The only thing is, I need more money for food. No offense, Kory, but you eat like a monster."

"I do _not_ eat like a monster!"

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The next day, Naruto awoke to a loud knocking on his door. He rolled off of his couch and made his way to the front door. What he found surprised him. At his front door stood Robin and Kid Flash, dressed in their civilian clothing. Kid Flash wore a long sleeved yellow shirt with a brown short sleeved one over it as well as jeans. Robin wear a black jacket with a green hooded sweatshirt underneath, a pair of black jeans, and a pair of sunglasses. It was odd, the way they were dressed, to Naruto at least.

Naruto didn't bother with the pleasantries and dove right into what was bothering him. "Why are you guys dressed so warmly? It's the middle of summer." His question was punctuated with him scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, well, just 'cause it's the middle of summer doesn't mean you should be walking around without a shirt on, man!" Kid Flash went on the defensive immediately.

"I'm in my own ho-"

"Yeah, get dressed! You skipped out last night, but we're all heading over to Mount Justice. Maybe Batman'll have a mission for us! Try to get whelmed, Shinobi!"

Naruto sighed. He couldn't bail on his teammates two times in a row, it was bad form. And he supposed a team get-together did sound nice; he had been doing this solo hero thing for too long, even if Superman did love to insinuate himself into his fights.

"Yeah, I guess that sounds good. Come on in, I'll just go get dressed and-"

Before he could finish, Koriand'r's voice sounded from behind the closed door of his, now her, bedroom. "Naruto? Is someone here? Are we going to fight crime again?"

Kid Flash immediately zipped into his personal space, prompting Naruto to take a step back. "Dude! Is that a girl in there?! Is she hot?! Can I meet her?!" Robin answered before Naruto could formulate a response.

"If she's in his room, why would you think she'd be interested in you, smart guy?" Kid Flash looked put out and backed away with his arms crossed and a pout on his face.

Naruto waved his hands in front of his face and said, "Hey! It's nothing like that, okay? She was the thing that came up last-" He was once again interrupted by the sound of Koriand'r's voice coming from behind him.

"Are these your friends? Can they be my friends, too?" Kid Flash blurred passed Naruto before he could do anything. He turned around and saw Kid Flash rapidly asking the beautiful alien a plethora of questions. She looked a bit overwhelmed but she was giggling all the while. Naruto palmed his face and sighed. It was going to be one of _those_ days.

After a quick shower and a shave, Naruto was ready to be on his way. He had decided to follow the example of his teammates and dressed in civilian attire. He wore a pair of black shorts, an orange tee shirt, and his old black pair of shinobi sandals. It was lucky Batman had provided him with a wardrobe of simple civilian clothes because if it was up to Naruto, he would have never worn anything other than his crime fighting outfit and underwear; being a ninja had gotten him used to the minimalist lifestyle.

Naruto had been at a loss with what to do about Koriand'r. She wanted to come, but he couldn't very well have her following them outside dressed as she was while him and his teammates were in their civilian personas. After some deliberation, it was decided she would wear one of Naruto's tee-shirts and a pair of his shorts over her less than conspicuous outfit. It would serve well as undergarments and an extra pair of shoes Naruto dug up in his room would make suitable replacements for her thigh-high boots. Finally, an extra pair of sunglasses from Robin would serve well to cover her alien eyes. The result was a shabbily dressed, very tall, orange-skinned beauty in ill-fitting shoes with floor-length auburn hair. It was something out of a bad comedy, but it would work until they reached their destination.

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By the time they reached Mount Justice, Naruto was mentally exhausted. The group had received a large number of stares, and Koriand'r's constant sense of awe and wonderment at all the new things around her didn't help them blend in any better. And then there was also the fact that both Kid Flash and Robin couldn't help peppering her with questions about her home world that Koriand'r was only too happy to answer and return with as many questions of her own. Naruto didn't care much for his secret identity and he only maintained it at the behest of Batman and Superman, but Robin and Kid Flash should have known better.

Their arrival at Mount Justice was heralded by the robotic voice of the computer announcing their names, while assigning the designation of 'guest' to Koriand'r. It seemed J'onn had taken the time to recognize her in the system the night before. Kid Flash and Robin immediately ran over to where Aqualad, Superboy, and Miss Martian were waiting, all of whom were wearing civilian clothing, and proceeded to ask them about Red Tornado and, hopefully, whatever mission he might have for them. Naruto and Koriand'r followed at a more sedate pace.

"Did you ask him?" Robin asked.

"What did he say?" Kid Flash continued.

Aqualad answered them both. "He's arriving now."

"Then what are we waiting for?" That said, Kid Flash jogged away towards the entrance of the cave, his teammates following behind.

As they were walking along, M'gann noticed the new arrival amongst them and asked, "Shinobi? Who's this?" It was a valid question, there was a stranger in their 'secret' hideout.

Naruto rubbed at his whisker marks with an index finger for a second before answering. "Ah, this is Koriand'r. She's an alien. She fell out of the sky last night, and I was the one that found her."

Koriand'r was quick to grab M'gann's hand and shake it vigorously. Robin had told her of the human custom when she had seen two men shaking hands with each other on the street. Her exuberant approximation was also accompanied by her excited proclamation of how nice it was to meet them all. She quickly repeated the gesture on Aqualad which amusedly returned with just as much energy.

"Is she going to be joining the team?" Aqualad directed the question at Naruto.

"Well, I have to run it by Batman, but I'm her only friend here. I can't just leave her to herself on a strange planet. At least it seems like I won't be her only friend for long." He looked over to where Koriand'r and M'gann were excitedly exchanging questions and answers about their respective home planets. It brought a smile to his face. It seemed Koriand'r had a knack for finding friends wherever she went.

The group reached the exit and the wall a panel on the ceiling lowered to create a ramp that led to the outside. The group walked up the ramp and stood around for a moment before their attention was drawn to Red Tornado's arrival. He was flying, his whole lower body engulfed in his namesake, a red tornado.

Kid Flash ran over to Red Tornado's landing area and waved in greeting. "Red Tornado!"

"Greetings. Is there a reason you intercepted me outside of the cave?" Red Tornado was all business, as usual. He_ was _a robot, after all.

"We hoped you had a mission for us," Aqualad said.

"Mission assignments are Batman's responsibility."

"But it's been over a week-"

Red Tornado interrupted Robin mid-complaint. "You will be tested soon enough. For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company." It was as simple as that. Red Tornado had his orders and he wouldn't budge.

"This team is not a social club," Aqualad said.

Naruto chose this time to chime in. "I kind of thought it was. I mean, we can go out there and beat up bad guys whenever we want, right? The only thing that's different about this is that we're going to be beating up people as a team. If I just wanted to go fight people, I'd go do it alone. I agreed to be a part of this team because you all seem like good people. The kind of people I wanna be friends with. Besides, it's not like you can just demand a mission if there's nothing going on right now. We might as well just suit up and go on patrol if you guys are itching for action that badly."

"Well said. And I am told that social interaction is productive to team-building. It will be good for you." With his piece said, Tornado walked passed them and into the cave. It was clear the conversation was over.

Kid Flash mussed up his own hair in frustration. "Argh! They're treating us like kids again! Keep busy? Who does he think he's kidding?"

"Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin asked.

"If we're not going to go fight crime, I would at least like to get to know my new friends," Koriand'r said.

M'gann agreed and said, "Well, me and Superboy live here. We could give you the grand tour."

"Don't look at me." Superboy was quick to make his anti-social tendencies known.

"We won't. A private tour sounds _much _more fun." Kid Flash was quick to perk up at the mention of a tour from M'gann. It was like the disappointing conversation with Red Tornado had never happened. The flirty goofball was back.

The group set off on their tour, exchanging their civilian names on the way. M'gann had chosen the name Megan Morse as her Earthly moniker. Kid Flash had introduced himself as Wally West and Aqualad as Kaldur'ahm, Kaldur to his friends. Shinobi had finally revealed his name to them as Naruto Uzumaki. Robin had refused to give them a civilian name; he was on orders from Batman not to reveal his true identity to anyone, even his teammates.

While the rest were making their introductions, Superboy was left out. It had been over a week since his escape from Project Cadmus, and he still only had his official Cadmus designation to go by. It set him apart from them and reminded him of his true origins. He would have been content to say nothing of it, just suck it up and move on, but a voice invaded the sanctity of his mind.

"_Don't worry, Superboy. We'll find you an Earth name, too."_

His reaction was immediate and explosive. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He yelled. He glared at Megan and quickly left the room.

"I'll go talk to him," Naruto said and quickly followed the clone's hasty exit. Finding Superboy wasn't hard, Naruto just followed the sounds of violence. He found Superboy in the training area, angrily pounding on a metal post that was jutting out of the ground. Naruto stood and watched Superboy throw his sloppy haymakers for a few moments before speaking up.

"You should really take it easy on her, man. She didn't mean anything by saying whatever she did in your mind, it's just the way Martians are."

"What do you know about it, huh!?" Superboy whirled around and, for a moment, Naruto thought the clone would continue to take out his frustrations on him.

"All I know is what Martian Manhunter's told me. On their world, they all talk like that, through their minds. Actual speaking is like... like sign language. It's unnecessary and more of a secondary form of communication than anything else. Megan's new to this world, just like you. Cut her some slack. Alright?"

"Whatever." Superboy turned back towards the post and resumed throwing his sloppy punches. His lack of technique reminded Naruto of himself in his earlier years. It was almost painful to think of himself as ever being nearly that sloppy. Well, if words couldn't calm Superboy down, maybe a training session would.

"Hey, Superboy. If you really wanna let out some frustration, let's spar. I could use some exercise, and you could really stand to learn some stuff. 'Cause, I mean, you really suck, man."

Superboy gave the post one final punch, before he turned to the ninja behind him. "I suck, huh? I'll show you 'suck'!" With a ferocious snarl, he closed the distance between them and the training session begun.

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After their impromptu training session, Naruto and Superboy were walking towards the kitchen. Superboy had said he smelled something burning and so they decided to investigate. The training session had really done wonders to mellow the clone out. It seemed he and Naruto were similar in that way; vigorous physical activity was just what was needed to help them clear their minds and calm them down.

When they arrived at the kitchen, Megan was hurriedly removing a smoking tray from the oven with her telekinetic powers. The cookies on the tray more closely resembled charred hockey pucks than anything else. Megan lamented the loss of her hard work. "I was trying out Grammy Jones's recipe from episode seventeen of... Uh, never mind."

"I bet they'd have tasted great." Robin made an effort to comfort her while Wally and, oddly enough, Koriand'r started to dig in on the very burnt cookies. "They don't seem to mind."

Koriand'r had the decency to blush and put her charred cookie down, but Wally defended his bizarre appetite with two cookies in his hand and another in his mouth. "I... have a serious metabolism."

The fact that her friends were enjoying the fruits of her labor turned Megan's frown upside down in a jiffy. "I'll make more."

Koriand'r clapped her hands in excitement and exclaimed, "I will help!"

Naruto beamed at his team. They hadn't all known each other for very long, but they reminded him of his old friends. Friends that he would more than likely never see again. It made him appreciate them all the more.

Naruto looked over at Superboy who was leaning against the wall. He was the picture of stoic silence, arms crossed, scowl on his face. That would have to change. Naruto nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "Don't you have something to say to Megan?"

Superboy looked down and away. This only prompted a harder and much less subtle nudge from Naruto. "Hey, Megan! I think Superboy had something he wanted to say to you." Megan and the rest of the group turned to look at the two of them. Superboy gave Naruto a withering glare which the ninja countered with a beaming grin. He put his hand on the Boy of Steel's shoulder and muttered, "Come on, man. We talked about this. You'll apologize, she'll apologize and it'll all be great."

Superboy sighed and, without meeting Megan's eyes, muttered an unintelligible sentence. A third elbow to the ribs courtesy of Naruto informed him that that half-assed attempt wouldn't cut it. He glared at Naruto once more and took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry about yelling at you. Okay? Maybe, I dunno, I shouldn't have blown up like that."

Megan looked like the happiest Martian to have ever set foot on Earth, which she likely was. She beamed at Superboy and reciprocated. "I'm sorry that I went into your mind without permission."

And just like that, the problem had been smoothed over.

The team sat around in the adjoining sitting room making idle conversation and occasionally checking in on Megan and Koriand'r preparing a second tray of cookies. When the cookies were in the oven Megan chimed in with an idea for what to do next. "I know what we can do! Come on, I'll show you my ship!"

She flew out of the room, Koriand'r on her tail, while the rest of the group followed the Tamaranean's contrail. After a short walk, they arrived at a landing pad with a red and black oblong shaped object sitting on it.

Megan made a show of presenting it to them. "Ta-da! It's my martian bio-ship!"

"Cute. Not aerodynamic, but cute," said Wally.

"It's at rest, silly. I'll wake it." Megan held her hand out towards her ship and a change was immediate. The ship quickly lost its oblong shape and morphed into something much sleeker. It certainly looked like a spaceship now.

"Amazing! I've seen many ships in my lifetime, but none that could transform themselves at the behest of the pilot's thoughts!" Koriand'r was certainly impressed. Her people had mastered the art of space travel long ago, but their ships didn't compare to this design.

"And that's just the outside." Megan waved her hand once more and a boarding platform lowered. She began walking towards it and looked back at the group. "Are you coming?"

As they entered the ship, seven chairs morphed out of the ground. Three on either side of the cockpit and one in the center that was obviously the pilot's seat.

"Strap in for launch," said Megan.

Everyone sat in a chair excitedly, but Naruto kept standing, looking decidedly green at the prospect of flight. Koriand'r looked towards him and asked, "Are you alright, Naruto? Do you need medical attention?"

Naruto shook his head and sighed. "Nah. I just really hate flying..." With his complaints made known he took the only open seat, looking nervous but as though he was trying to hide it. Megan giggled into her hand before giving the ship the command to activate the seatbelts.

"Red Tornado. Please open the bay doors," she said.

The doors opened and Naruto clenched his fists tightly before the ship took off. They flew along the Rhode Island shoreline at a slow pace. At least it was slow compared to the way Superman flew. Naruto found himself calming down significantly. He was no stranger to extreme speeds, but it was a completely different story when you were moving at those speeds while thousands of feet in the sky with your only lifeline being a goofily dressed guy that went by the name of Superman. With his nerves calmed, Naruto tuned back into the conversation the rest of the group was having.

It seemed Robin had talked Megan into demonstrating her shape-shifting abilities. She mimicked Koriand'r's form, though in much more flattering clothing, then quickly shifted into a female version of Robin and then Kid Flash.

"Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?" Wally asked.

Robin was quick to answer. "Yes. It really is." He switched tracks quickly though and praised Megan. "That was impressive! But, but, you know, you're not exactly gonna fool anyone with those." He looked apologetic, but it was true.

Megan looked a little crestfallen. "Mimicking boys is a lot harder."

"Eh, it was really good. When I was first learning the transformation technique, I couldn't even copy guys right. There was always something wrong. Too short, too tall, too big a nose, whatever. You'll get it. I know you will." Naruto smiled as he reminisced about his academy days.

"You can transform too? How many powers do you have? Like a walking bag of tricks, this guy." Wally had said it in a joking matter, but it was true enough. Naruto had a huge arsenal of abilities and he hadn't had to unleash even half of them since he'd come to this reality.

Their conversation continued in that vein, with Naruto showing off a few transformations of his own, before a call came in from Red Tornado. "Red Tornado to Miss Martian. An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor power plant. I suggest you investigate. Covertly. I'm sending coordinates."

"Received. Adjusting course," said Megan.

Robin was quick to complain. "Tornado's keeping us busy-"

"Ah, quit your whining. There's an emergency. We're gonna be helping people. It doesn't matter if we're being kept busy or not, theres people down there that need our help." Naruto had interrupted him quite rudely, but he was sick of their complaining. There was merit in helping the little guy. Maybe it wasn't as glorious as stopping an alien invasion or something, but if they were doing good, what did it matter? Robin, properly scolded, clammed up and nodded in agreement. There was no room for petulant childishness, people needed their help.

And just like that, they were a team on a mission.

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Slade Wilson, more commonly known as Deathstroke the Terminator, sat on a rooftop of the Happy Harbor power plant. He'd been given a mission by the Light, a coalition of the world's most powerful villains, though it was less of a mission and more of a babysitting gig. He was to provide support for one of T.O. Morrow's new creations as it endeavored to draw out Red Tornado and rewrite the robot's programming. It was an attempt by his superiors to plant a mole inside the League. Deathstroke was not to engage unless Red Tornado brought any kind of League backup, but he was growing restless.

The robot, Mister Twister, had been wreaking havoc in the power plant for going on fifteen minutes now, and there was still no sign of Red Tornado, the League, or even a random super powered good samaritan. Deathstroke was starting to have doubts over the merits of this plan. It was so simple, childish really, and there was no assurance that Red Tornado would even show up to this rinky-dink piece of American suburbia. Deathstroke planned to contact his superiors and tell them as much before he saw a speck approaching from the North, following the shore. As it grew closer, he identified it as a red and black ship, probably coming to investigate the alert.

Slade put his hand to his ear and activated his communication device to talk to Mister Twister. "Someone's coming. It's showtime." With his message delivered, Deathstroke jumped off the roof and hid behind an SUV in the parking lot. A wait and see approach would suit the purposes of his mission just fine.

As the ship began its approach, a tornado formed in the blink of an eye and engulfed it. The tornado tossed the ship around for a while before it broke free and landed on the far side of the parking lot. Deathstroke quickly shifted his position and continued to watch.

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The team left the recently landed aircraft and took stock of the situation. A tornado was ripping through the parking lot that surrounded the Happy Harbor power plant and workers were running out of the main buildings, many towards their cars in an attempt to escape this crisis.

Robin was going to pull one of his disappearing tricks but was caught by Naruto holding onto the back of his jacket. "We're a team. Let's start acting like it. Okay?"

Robin removed his jacket from Naruto's grasp and pouted petulantly. "Fine. We should check inside the main building, though. People are running out of it and the windows are bursting out from the inside."

The rest of the team nodded and they all made their way towards the main building. When they arrived, the building was empty except for one tall and very well armored being. His armor was red and black with blue tubes leading from a pack on his back to his shoulders and wrists.

"Who's this guy?" asked Wally.

"I don't know, but I don't think he was feeling to whelmed about this power plant. Maybe he didn't like the architecture." Robin answered.

"My apologies. You may address me as Mister Twister." The figure said before a pair of tornadoes shot out from his wrist mounted devices and intercepted the charging form of Superboy. Superboy was halted in his tracks before he was blasted away into a wall.

The team exchanged looks of determination before charging at the enemy. Kid Flash was the first to reach Mister Twister. His quick was easily stopped by Mister Twister's tornados and Wally was thrown out of the power plant through the open entryway.

Aqualad and Miss Martian were next, but their attempts were rebuffed just as easily. "I was prepared to be challenged by a super hero. I was not, however, expecting children. I'm a little disturbed that you've no adult supervision."

"Well, let's see if you're a little more 'turbed when we kick your can!" Robin threw a small explosive capsule that Mister Twister easily stopped with his wind manipulation, but it was followed by an explosive disk that embedded itself into his armor. He was as affected by this as a rock was by a gentle sea breeze. He quickly flicked the disk and it exploded harmlessly a few feet away.

"Yes, I'm definitely 'turbed now," said Twister in a mocking tone.

It was a good strategy, but it needed a lot more punch if they were going to beat this guy.

"Kory, do your thing with the energy blasts, lay down as much fire as you can to keep him distracted." With his order given, Naruto jumped to the ceiling of the building while Koriand'r unleashed a salvo of energy blasts on Mister Twister. While the enemy was distracted, Naruto ran along the ceiling until he was directly over Mister Twister. Twister was quick to dispatch of Koriand'r with his tornados, but Naruto was already in position. He dropped down in front of Mister Twister, close enough that he couldn't use his tornados to knock Naruto away.

Naruto would have relished in the surprise that was no doubt spreading over the villain's face if it wasn't covered by a mask, but as it was he started unleashing a blistering combination of elbows into Mister Twister. After the first few hits it was obvious that the armor was mitigating most, if not all, the damage from the blows and Naruto abandoned his combination and delivered a hasty, yet devastating, drop kick that sent Mister Twister flying out of the power plant's main building.

Naruto was quick to follow, a Rasengan spinning in his left hand. He reached Mister Twister quickly and was going to attack his fallen form, before a gunshot rang out and bullet ripped through Naruto's forearm, causing him to release his hold on his technique and opening him up to retaliation in the form of a wind blast from his fallen enemy. Naruto flew into a wall, a spider-web of cracks forming where he impacted, before he slid down to the floor.

Naruto looked at the hole in his forearm. Steam was rising from the wound and it was already starting to heal, but it would be out of commission for at least an hour. Longer if he kept fighting, which he certainly would. Naruto took off his shirt and wrapped it around his forearm as an impromptu bandage and sling to mitigate the immediate blood loss and to keep it in place whule he fought. While he was doing this he looked at the person who had shot him.

He was a man, maybe about as tall as Naruto himself, wearing a black armored suit. It wasn't nearly as armored as the full metal suit of Mister Twister and it was apparent that it provided him with superb protection while also allowing for an excellent range of motion. His head was covered in an orange mask, one side of which was black and was missing an eye hole, and a tail of white hair came out from it at the base of his neck. His gun was holstered as well as the sword on his back as he engaged Aqualad in close quarters combat. From the thrashing Aqualad was receiving, it was obvious this man, whoever he was, was very well trained.

Robin kneeled down beside Naruto to check on him, and the ninja took the chance to ask about this new arrival. "Who's that guy?"

Robin spared a glance and answered. "That's Deathstroke. Most dangerous mercenary in the world. Enhanced strength, speed, agility, and he's extremely smart to boot. We might have to call in the League for this guy."

Naruto shook his head and quickly regained his feet. "Nah. This one's mine. You guys focus on that Mister Twister guy. Make sure you work as a team, if you run in one by one he'll keep making you look like jokes. I'll handle this Deathstroke joker."

"But you've been shot-"

"I'll handle it." Naruto snarled. He really hated guns and he hated being shot even more. "Tell the team what I told you. I'm counting on you guys."

Before Robin could answer or protest, Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed. Robin sighed and said, "You told me to act like we're a team and you go and pull this kind of stunt?"

Naruto reappeared at Deathstroke's side while he prepared to deliver another blow to Aqualad. A front kick was enough to send the mercenary flying while Naruto pilfered the gun holstered on his leg. Batman had taught him enough about firearms that he knew how to release the magazine and pop the bullet in the chamber. Naruto proceed to do so, using his mouth to pull back the slide, and then tossed the gun away while leaning his head to the right to avoid the knife Deathstroke had thrown from his position in front of the car that had stopped his sudden flight.

Naruto blurred into motion once again and drove his foot into the car door while Deathstroke dodged to the side. The mercenary retaliated with a punch that Naruto dodged under. From this position, Naruto wrapped his good arm around the mercenary, over his shoulder, and spun with enough force to trip him and send him to the ground. Naruto followed up with a falling punch that Deathstroke caught and used to maneuver his body into an armbar that brought Naruto to the ground as well.

Naruto couldn't allow his only good arm to be taken out of this fight as well, so he made a one-handed seal with his right hand. Deathstroke was momentarily confused, before a puff of smoke announced the arrival of a clone. The mercenary was forced to abandon his hold or suffer a sudden bout of unconsciousness provided by a foot to the face. With its purpose fulfilled, the clone popped out of existence and both combatants regained their feet and dropped into ready stances.

"You're pretty good. For a kid." They were the first words Deathstroke had spoken, and they pissed Naruto off.

"Yeah, if I had my other arm, I'd show you 'pretty good', old man."

"Hmm. Very few openings, even with only one arm," Deathstroke mused. He seemed to have conquered whatever conundrum had grabbed him and he pulled a knife from his ankle. Naruto expected the knife would be used against him, but Deathstroke proved to have a much more sinister intent for it. He turned completely around and threw the knife with all his might at a recovering Robin who'd been fighting Mister Twister with the rest of the team a ways away.

Naruto's eyes widened before he blurred into motion, moving as quickly as he could to catch up with the knife and save Robin's life. Naruto reappeared behind the Boy Wonder, knife in hand, a centimeter from plunging into his skull and ending his life. Robin was none the wiser and rejoined the fight while Naruto turned to look for the murderous mercenary. Deathstroke had taken the chance provided by the distraction to recover his gun and was in the process of reloading it.

Naruto quickly undid the the clasp the held the heavy weight on the wrist of his bad arm and threw it at the mercenary. His aim was true and the improvised ranged weapon took the gun from Deathstroke's hand and flew with it further into the parking lot. The ninja took the time afforded by Deathstroke's shock to undo the rest of his weights and then close the distance between him and the mercenary.

Naruto lead with an elbow that Deathstroke neatly knocked to the side before retaliating with one of his own. Naruto's head was knocked to the side before a knee landed in his gut, doubling him over and opening him to a falling elbow to his back. Naruto fell but caught himself with his good arm and flipped up into a one-handed handstand. He spun quickly, his legs spread out, creating a deadly whirlwind of kicks that got Deathstroke to back off, rather than press his advantage. Naruto flipped back to his feet and squared off against Deathstroke against.

"That was a dirty trick you pulled, gramps." Naruto snarled at his opponent. Of course, he'd seen such tactics employed many times over the course of his ninja career, but it was the first time he'd seen someone vicious enough to do it in this world.

"Hmm, it's a dirty game, kid. You play long enough, you're bound to get hurt. But you already knew that, didn't you?" Deathstroke gestured at Naruto's shot-up arm and he could almost _hear_ the smirk in the mercenary's voice.

"Oh, I know that, and it looks like your buddy's learning that lesson real well, too." Naruto pointed towards where his teammates were engaging Mister Twister. Their combined might had been enough to corner him, and they seemed about ready to deliver the finishing blow. It seemed the constant barrage of energy blasts from Koriand'r was proving to be a sufficient distraction for the team to lay some real punishment on Mister Twister. The villain's wind manipulation was completely ineffective against Koriand'r's unique form of attack, and it was proving a very efficient method of opening the villain up for follow up strikes from the rest of the team.

Deathstroke, realizing that his mission would be a failure if Mister Twister was defeated, started to run towards the conflict, dropping a number of explosive pellets in his wake. Naruto, undeterred, ran passed the pellets completely and used his momentum to drop into a slide and take Deathstroke's feet out from under him.

The mercenary quickly regained his feet and, having decided he was done playing around, unsheathed the sword on his back. Naruto allowed a smirk to cross his face; after having faced a master swordsman like Sasuke, this would be child's play. Deathstroke was fast, but he was no S-rank ninja.

Naruto closed the distance between them extremely quickly, knocking aside the blade and following with a rising elbow that caught Deathstroke in the chin. The mercenary almost left the ground before a hard kick to his belly changed his momentum drastically and he flew into the power plant wall. Deathstroke fell to his knees on the ground and curled up with his arms caressing his belly.

Naruto move to finish him off and knock him out, before Deathstroke's arms came away from his belly and a number of round pellets spilled out onto the ground. Naruto's eyes barely had time to widen before the pellets ignited and a bright flash blinded him and a deafening bang that certainly did its job. Naruto stumbled backwards for a moment before he felt his improvised sling being ripped away. Without his eyesight or hearing, Naruto couldn't pursue and only reached out into nothingness before he was certain Deathstroke had made his escape.

By the time his vision had returned to him, Deathstroke was gone. It was sloppy, getting caught by a simple trick like that. Amateur even. It showed that Naruto had been living the easy life in this reality for much too long if he'd been caught by a grade school trick like that.

"I just wish I knew why he took my shirt..." With that said, Naruto started making his way to the battlefield where his team had been in the middle of defeating Mister Twister. "Yeah, guess I didn't act like much of a team player today."

When he arrived at the battleground, his teammates were standing around the crushed remains of Mister Twister, who was apparently a robot piloted by _another_ robot.

"So, you guys won, huh?"

Robin whirled on him and poked him in the chest. "Yeah! No thanks to you! What happened to all that talk of teamwork, huh?"

Naruto held up his good hand in a sign of surrender. "Yeah, I know, I messed up. I'm truly sorry. That guy just pissed me off, you know? And I guess I'm so used to going solo, I just kinda fell into it. It won't happen again. I promise."

"Yeah, well, whatever. How's your arm?" At the mention of his injury, Koriand'r ran over and started doting over him. Though this mostly involved in her almost ripping the arm from its socket.

"Ow, ow, ow! Kory, please! It'll be fine after I've had some time to heal. Anyway, what's the deal with this guy?" Naruto kicked at the remains of the robot(s).

"He was obviously here to draw out Red Tornado. For what purpose we do not know. He was made to be stronger than Tornado, that much is certain," said Kaldur..

"Yeah. If it wasn't for beautiful here we might not have won," said Wally while gesturing to Koriand'r. "She really turned the tide with those blasts of hers!"

Naruto beamed at Koriand'r. "Well, I guess it's official, huh? You need a superhero name if you're gonna be a part of this team."

Koriand'r nearly exploded in excitement. "Can I really? Would they let me?"

"Of course they would. You're a part of this team now, whether the League likes it or not." Kaldur was right. There was no way the team would let the League take away their new friend. Not in a million years.

"About your name. How about... Starfire?" Robin asked.

Koriand'r pulled anyone that she could reach into a super powered group hug. It was settled, their first mission as a team was a success and only a bright future awaited them.

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Slade Wilson stood in a dark room, the only illumination therein coming from seven screens that held unidentifiable figures obscured by white light in them. His mission had been a failure of the worst sort. He'd allowed a boy to distract him from his true objective and to make matters worse, that boy had only been using one arm to fight him to a stand still. He clutched blood rag that used to be the boy's shirt in his fist. A consolation prize for his superiors.

"You have failed us, Slade."

"Your mission was simple, protect the robot."

"Instead, the robot was destroyed and our plans lay in ruins."

Slade bowed his head lower with every new voice. It was a point of professional pride that he never failed his missions, no matter the odds arrayed against him. The blonde boy had broken his pride and he would pay dearly.

"Worry not, Slade. We've reviewed the recording of this incident. Failure in the face of overwhelming odds is disappointing but to be expected."

Another blow to his pride.

"Leaders of the Light, rest assured this failure will not be repeated. I will hunt the one that caused this failure, and I will show you his head. As a show of good faith, I present you this." Slade held out his fist to present them the bloody remnants of the shirt he'd taken from the boy.

"A bloody rag?"

"Not just a bloody rag. The DNA of the boy who caused my failure. The one they call Shinobi."

A/N: And that's that. Naruto gains a nemesis and the Light is gonna get up to some weird stuff with his DNA. A special thanks to Wing Zero Alchemist who helped me to write this chapter. Also, since someone asked, I'll reiterate: this is not a harem story. I never intended to give anyone that impression and I'm sorry if this is disappointing news to some of you. Until next time.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

July 21st. The anniversary of his impromptu interdimensional trip.

When Naruto awoke, he was in a bad mood. Here he was, one year later, and he was still no closer to getting back home. Not only that, but the only lead he had discovered that could lead him to helping Kurama had been snatched up by some kid wizard and his ugly overgrown cat. The reality of his situation weighed on him like a boulder.

Naruto rolled out of his prone position and took up a seat on the edge of his single bed. He was a war hero, sitting in a tiny apartment in a city a literal universe away from his own. The best and most powerful ninja in the Elemental Nations, undone by his own mercy and ripped away from his friends, his home, and his life. Naruto had never felt so... defeated. With a sigh, he stood from his bed and decided it was time to start the day; even if he would rather just lay under the covers and wallow in his misery for the rest of the day.

Naruto walked towards the bathroom and was struck by how completely silent his apartment could be without Koriand'r there to cause a ruckus. He had been living alone for the majority of his life, but having Koriand'r around had really made him realize how lonely his apartment really was.

Koriand'r had been moved into Mount Justice when Batman and the rest of the League had realized that the team would not budge on the issue of her being made their teammate. Naruto hadn't protested, but now, seeing how starkly barren his apartment felt, he truly wished he had.

Maybe it was just the significance of this day, but Naruto couldn't help the depressed thoughts that were entering his head. The chances for him to return home had always been slim, but Naruto had at least convinced himself that by the time a year had rolled around, he would at least have Kurama to share in his predicament. But a year had passed and his only link to his own world was trapped in some astral plane.

"I gotta blow off some steam." Naruto decided that if he was going to feel like such crap today, at least he would make the criminals of Metropolis share in his pain.

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The scum of Suicide Slum was out in force today. Shinobi had managed to stop two robberies, one fire, and a record seven purse snatchings in the six hours he had been out on patrol. It was all well and good, helping people, but he really needed to let loose. It was never a good idea to wish for trouble, but Naruto was in that frame of mind. Stopping low level hoods was like swatting flies. He needed something big, someone he could really lay into. It seemed his prayers would be answered.

Shinobi's communicator went off as he was about to break up a mugging. He swiftly touched a hand to his ear before jumping across the street and into an alley occupied by three armed men and one rather pretty victim.

"This is Shinobi." He sized up his first target, a bear of a man, probably seven feet tall, wielding a comparatively small knife. His compatriots were much shorter, but no less menacing, one holding a thick pipe and the other a pair of brass knuckles.

"Shinobi, this is Martian Manhunter. There's been a report of an explosion in S.T.A.R. Labs."

Shinobi shot for the large man first. The man began a series of slashes and stabs, all of which were neatly and effortlessly sidestepped. Finally having had enough, Shinobi caught the man's wrist in the middle of a stab attempt. With a quick application of pressure, the man's wrist broke with sickening crack and the knife fell from his hand. The mugger began to scream before a quick chop to his throat cut off his airflow. He fell to ground, gasping for breath, with tears streaming down his face. He wouldn't die, but he certainly wouldn't be standing any time soon.

"When isn't there an explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs? It might as well be a weekly occurrence."

The final two men decided their chances would be better if they attacked in tandem. The man with the brass knuckles moved in first, attacking with a string of jabs.

"Yes, well, Superman is away on a space mission. He won't be back until the end of the week, at the earliest. I need you to handle this."

The man with the brass knuckles was swinging away at Shinobi, though he found little success, while his compatriot was circling around to try to attack from behind. It might have been a good plan if they had implemented it on a lesser man. Shinobi caught his assailant's fist and then quickly caught the other before pulling him in for a vicious headbutt. The man's nose broke, smearing the metal plate of Shinobi's headband with a vile mixture of blood and mucus, before the man himself crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Shinobi turned and caught the pipe the other man had been bringing down in an overhead strike. He ripped the pipe from the criminal's hand and bounced it off his own open palm in a menacing fashion.

"Let me just wrap something up and I'll head out."

The criminal, faced with his unconscious friends and vastly superior foe, decided that discretion was indeed the better part of valor and promptly turned tail and ran. Shinobi watched him for a second while he deactivated his communicator. The criminal tripped once but quickly regained his feet and continued to run until he made it just passed the entrance of the alleyway before his own pipe was sent flying after him. It hit him on the back of the head and he promptly fell over, unconscious in the street.

Shinobi looked at the pretty woman that they had been accosting and asked, "You okay?"

She nodded quickly, her eyes wide as she stared at the unconscious men before her. The hero had subdued them in an almost bored fashion, while having a conversation, no less.

Shinobi checked her over for any wounds before saying, "Call the cops and get outta here." That said, Shinobi walked over to one of the unconscious men and ripped his shirt to create a rag. He wiped the blood from his headband and said, "I'm off. Take care."

Shinobi proceeded to jump on the wall of one of the buildings and run up the side until he disappeared over the edge.

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Shinobi knew the route to S.T.A.R. Labs well. There was _always_ some crisis at that place. For one of the most advanced scientific research centers in the world, the people there sure knew how to get into trouble. The Metropolis lab wasn't their only location, but it was, by far, the one that put out the most distress calls. There was always a fire, an explosion, or an escaped experiment.

When Shinobi arrived at the location, there were firemen already on the scene. Their trucks were parked in the street and some men were already spraying the fire with their hoses while others worked quickly to hook into any free hydrant they could find. Metropolis's finest were hard at work, and that suited Shinobi just fine; his job wasn't to put out the fire, it was search and rescue.

Shinobi moved over to a group of evacuated scientists. If he wanted answers, this was as good a place as any to start. He looked at one in particular man that looked to be in charge. Or as in charge as one could be when their place of work went up in flames. He was an older man, with hair that had long since gone gray, wearing a labcoat and a pair of rectangular glasses.

"Hey! Doctor-"

"Klein!"

"Yeah. What happened here? Is there anybody inside? And be quick about it." Shinobi had no time to spare.

"There's nobody inside. We've taken a headcount and everyone is accounted for. But there was something else in there. Whatever caused this fire, nobody really saw it too clearly, but it was big and it's still in there. The firemen won't listen-"

Shinobi waved him off and started making his way towards the building. It may have been rude, but he wasn't in any sort of mood to deal with a frazzled scientist. He walked passed the firemen and made a passing suggestion. "The labcoats say there's something big in there, might have caused this fire. Move your men back." It was a perfunctory action. He didn't expect that they would listen and he wouldn't wait for a response. He heard the beginning of the reply before he became a blur of speed and rocketed through the front doors of the building.

Inside was a haze of oppressive heat and and suffocating smoke. Shinobi was glad for his facemask in this moment. Maybe he didn't care much for concealing his identity, but, right now, his facemask was really coming in handy. It did its part to mitigate his smoke inhalation, but it wouldn't help for very long so he had to be quick about his investigation.

He moved down the hallways at a quick pace, checking the rooms he passed swiftly and moving on. He was hearing booming sounds, but those could have easily been small explosions caused by the fire, though he did consider the fact they they might also be whatever had caused this fire, continuing its rampage.

Shinobi rounded a corner, moving roughly in the direction he had heard the sounds coming from. What met him was a giant orange fist swinging for his face. Shinobi had very little time to react. He crossed his arms over his face and upper torso, reinforced his body with as much chakra as he could, and braced for impact. And, boy, did the impact come.

Shinobi's world was turned upside down. He was sent flying by the punch and was dimly aware of flying through several walls before the world became brighter. He could see the sky, and then the ground, and then the sky again, and so on. He had flown clear through the building and was flipping through the air. But the building's walls had done wonders to slow his momentum and he was already falling. Before Shinobi could try to right himself and land on his feet, his back impacted against the roof of a car, which readily caved in under his weight and the force of his fall.

Shinobi rolled off the wreckage of the car, landing on his hands and knees. Tsunade had once told him that he had an oddly dense bone structure, likely contributing to his ridiculously hard head. He was thankful for that now. It was thanks to that and his liberal application chakra that his arms weren't broken.

He regained his feet and looked around. The firemen and remaining scientists were looking at him with wide eyes.

"I told you to get outta here, right!? So, go!" He shouted at them. This was no time for innocent bystanders to be hanging around. The message didn't seem to sink in until there was a loud crash from the building and some _thing_ walked out of the newly made hole.

Whatever it was, it was easily twelve feet tall. The thing had an orange body, rippling with muscle, and covered in tattered red rags. On the creature's head were a pair of large horns, easily a foot in length each. They curved back and then slightly forward like a goat's and held a fiery halo between them. On its wide back were a pair of leathery orange wings, easily another twelve feet in wingspan, though, by Shinobi's estimation, they still looked like they wouldn't be able to sustain the creature's flight for any prolonged period of time. The creature looked passed all the firemen and scientists and zeroed in directly on Shinobi. It let out of deafening roar, causing car alarms to go off all up and down the street. All in all, it was a fearsome image. It certainly seemed to convince the firemen and scientists to make themselves scarce.

Shinobi got into a ready stance and waited, watching the monster for any aggressive action. He wasn't disappointed. The monster took a breath and released a fireball from its maw. Shinobi jumped over it, flipping forward, and when he landed, he blurred into motion, moving directly at the monster. He jumped and held his leg out in the position of one of Maito Gai's signature techniques.

"Dynamic entry!"

His foot made contact in the monster's midsection and it was accompanied with the loud thud of a solid hit. The monster didn't budge, however. It didn't show any sign that it had even felt the impact of Shinobi's foot, let alone been hurt by it. They stayed in that position for a moment, and Shinobi could make out a symbol branded into the thing's chest. A circle that contained a simple capitalized letter 'I'. Realization entered his eyes before he was backhanded by the creature and sent on his way.

Shinobi's back impacted against an abandoned fire truck this time and he fell once more to his hands and knees. He looked up at the beast, a gleam of realization in his eyes. He knew who and what this creature was. A grin spread across his face and he vocalized his thoughts.

"It's been a while, Jason! Or should I call you Etrigan?"

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Superboy had been entertaining himself by beating up a practice dummy in the training room. Ever since the fight against Mister Twister, the days had grown long and dull. It had only been three days, but he was already bored out of his skull.

Of course, Megan and Koriand'r were doing just fine. The two were practically best friends already. They never seemed to stop talking to each other and Superboy was all too happy to let them. He certainly didn't want to get caught up in that whirlwind of words. But that left him with very little to do.

He had taken to trying out a few of the techniques Shinobi had taught him on several practice dummies. Maybe the guy was pushy and got on his nerves, but Superboy could admit he was good, scarily so.

Superboy was on his fifth dummy of the day. It was a trial and error process and he sometimes lost control of his strenght. Not to mention that Shinobi hadn't actually taught him anything, but instead had used the moves on Superboy himself ruthlessly and to great effect.

Superboy took the current dummy by the arm and threw it over his shoulder before viciously twisting the limb. There was a crack and he knew if it was a real person, they would be disabled and writhing in pain cradling their broken arm. Shinobi hadn't followed through with this move, but Superboy knew he probably could have found a way to hurt him if he really had to.

Superboy righted himself and prepared to pick up the dummy for another go before a holographic display lit up on the far wall and the computer said, "Incoming call from Shinobi, designation B-06."

Superboy jogged over to the display and accepted the call. Immediately he could tell Shinobi was in a fight. There were crashes going on in the background and Shinobi himself was grunting in exertion before he spoke.

"Hello!? Dammit, if you're gonna answer, at least say something!"

Superboy scowled and replied in kind. "Yeah? What do you want?" He wasn't going to take that kind of crap.

There was an explosion on the other end of the line before Shinobi answered. "Cut the attitude! I need you to get to the Metropolis S.T.A.R. Labs location! Bring Starfire and Miss Martian!" There was another crash before the line cut out.

Superboy stared at the display for a moment before running off to find Megan and Koriand'r. Shinobi needed their help. And knowing that guy, if he needed help, it was serious.

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Shinobi stood away from the demon, in a ready stance. His suit was torn in some places and singed in others. Luckily his eyebrows were still in tact, but Etrigan was growing very fond of throwing fireballs. And it wasn't like he could make the demon stop.

Everything Shinobi had tried had been for naught. He'd long since discarded his weights, but every blow he landed on Etrigan seemed to have little to no effect. He had tried fire jutsu, but Etrigan seemed eat the flames like they were fine cuisine. His wind jutsu had had some effect, but the cuts were easily healed by the demon in seconds, and any of his stronger jutsu would likely outright kill him, something Shinobi desperately wanted to avoid. The few lightning jutsu he had tried worked well enough, but then there was the problem of Etrigan healing too quickly for Shinobi to capitalize on the disadvantage. There seemed to be no course of action but to fight until his backup arrived.

With a blur of speed, Shinobi reengaged Etrigan in a taijutsu battle. The demon was too big for the ninja to use any of his throws and the quick dislocation techniques he might use against his more invulnerable enemies were similarly out of the question for much the same reason. The only advantage taijutsu gave Shinobi was that it allowed him to avoid taking damage while keeping Etrigan from wreaking havoc on the street and surrounding buildings.

Shinobi stopped in front of Etrigan's massive form, drawing out a downward punch that he neatly sidestepped. He drew out two kunai while the demon was pulling his fist out of the ground and with a small leap planted them directly in his eyes.

Etrigan reared back in pain, scratching at his face, trying to remove the two kunai. Shinobi winced. It was a mean thing to do, but Etrigan would heal, and his blindness would buy the ninja some time to draw out Kurama's chakra.

Shinobi closed his eyes for a moment, blocking out Etrigan's frenzied thrashing, and reached deep into himself. He found the well of power that was Kurama and pulled. Without the fox himself there to offer up the power freely, it took a great deal more work to draw it out. Eventually, his effort bore fruit though.

Shinobi's body was enshrouded in a golden flaming aura. His clothing disappeared, covered by the golden chakra, and his body was covered by black markings. He opened his eyes and revealed that they had become red and with a slitted pupil. Shinobi let out a breath and began rolling his shoulders before an orange fist came down on his position.

Etrigan removed his fist from the newly formed crater, expecting to see Shinobi's broken body, but found nothing. His confusion was ended when he felt an impact against his face that actually caused his head to whip around from the force. Another quickly followed, whipping him around to the other side and knocking him to his hands and knees.

Etrigan looked up to see his target, shrouded in that gold aura, standing a distance away with his hands at his side. While under the control of the Imperius Brand, the demon's intelligence was greatly reduced, but he knew enough to realize that his enemy had moved at such a speed that he couldn't see him at all. There was no blur of of motion, just speed and punches to match. Etrigan straightened himself and roared at the ninja with renewed rage before gathering another fireball in his mouth.

Shinobi, for his part, was regretting his decision to punch the new and improved Etrigan. He had hit him so hard, he'd broken his own hands and Etrigan was still ready for more. The Nine-Tails Chakra Mode had done wonders to speed his healing and he could already feel the bones in his hands realigning themselves and knitting together. Shinobi could run himself ragged attacking Etrigan, he could punch and kick until his hands and feet fell off altogether, but the demon would heal, much faster than he could, and would still come back for more. This was a fight he could not win without killing his enemy.

Luckily the decision was taken from him when a salvo of green energy blasts impacted against Etrigan's head, causing him to release his building fireball harmlessly into the ground. The demon raised his hand to block out the annoyance and Shinobi looked up to see Starfire, busily flying around and unleashing as many blasts as she could upon Etrigan.

As Starfire was distracting the enemy, Superboy ran up from the side and grabbed one of Etrigan's legs and lifted it off the ground, toppling the demon. Afterwards, a plethora of cars flew into the air, one by one, and started bombarding the fallen foe. Shinobi looked to the top of building across the street and saw Miss Martian there, doing her level best to bury Etrigan under as many cars as she could.

With his hands healed and the situation under control, Shinobi decided he would go talk to Miss Martian. He had an idea of how to end this madness. Shinobi disappeared in a bright yellow flash and reappeared at Miss Martian's side. She gave a startled squeak and the car she'd been floating fell to the ground at once.

She took in Shinobi's golden form and asked the first question that came to mind. "Shinobi? Why are you glowing like that?"

"There's no time for that. That guy's not gonna be down much longer. I need you to do something while Superboy, Starfire, and I distract him. I need you to go into his head and find out where his master is. He's skinny wears a black suit and his hair is in the shape of horns on the side of his head. His name is Klarion. Find him and we can put an end to this. Got it?" Shinobi waited for her to nod before he was gone once more in a yellow flash.

The ninja reappeared next to the pile of cars and beckoned his teammates closer to him. "Miss Martian's gonna go into his head, we've got to distract him until she finds what we're looking for."

Starfire nodded and took back to the sky, ready for battle, but Superboy stuck around. "What exactly are we looking for? Why don't we just crush this guy and be done with it?"

"He's being controlled. We're looking for where his master is hiding. Now, look alive!" Shinobi had taken Superboy by the arm and moved them both out of the way of a car that had been sent flying when Etrigan regained his senses. Superboy shrugged him off and resumed the fight, Shinobi following behind.

Given his superior speed, Shinobi reached the demon first. He quickly darted under Etrigan's legs to reach his back and quickly formed an Odama Rasengan. He waited until Superboy was in range and shoved his technique into the demon's back. The release of power was enough to push him forward and into a combo of punches from Superboy. It was a well executed attack, but Etrigan recovered quickly.

Shinobi was about to renew his attack, when Miss Martian's voice entered all of their minds. "I've found him! I found Klarion! He's nearby, at a the Jules Verne Extra-Terrestrial Museum!"

Shinobi knew where that was. He shouted to his teammates, "I'm going after the guy behind all of this! Keep this guy here! I'll be done before you know it!"

And just like that, Shinobi was gone in another yellow flash.

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Klarion had been sent by the Light to this museum to retrieve some space rock. He didn't care much about the details to be honest. They'd told him he could release his new pet upon the city to create chaos, and Klarion, as a Lord of Chaos, had jumped at the chance. The plans of his fellow members of the Light didn't matter to him. He was just in it for the good times.

Klarion walked around the museum taking in the sight of the daytime visitors to the museum cowering on the floor. All these mortals, on their knees before him. It was almost enough to make him swoon. Teekl was at his side, in his large sabertooth form, doing his part in making sure the humans were properly intimidated.

Klarion was taking his time. After all, the longer he delayed, the more death and destruction Etrigan would sow. He twirled the brand in his hand appreciatively as he walked. The Imperius Brand. It had given him such a good pet. Etrigan had been limited in his use when Klarion had taken control of him. But a liberal application of magic, genetic modifications, and a bit of Blockbuster serum had done wonders for him. He was truly a fearsome creature now. A demon with no equal. And Klarion would let him delight in the screams of the innocent for a little while longer. After all, a distraction was one thing, but he had to let the poor demon have his fun.

As he was reveling in the chaos he had sown, his attention was drawn back to the situation at hand by the sound of shattering glass and the of the cowering people around him gasping. He turned around to find a man, enshrouded by a golden energy, staring at him.

"What the-? Teekl!" The sabertooth set off running at its new target and leapt up to pounce on him before the figure backhanded it away and out the window he'd come through.

"So you think you're tough, huh?" Klarion started to gather his magic in his free hand before the figure disappeared completely in a flash of yellow and reappeared in that same instant in front of him. Klarion quickly repurposed his gathered magic and formed a shield in front of himself. The figure laid his hand on the shield and the strange energy that covered his form seemed to destabilize Klarion's own. The shield quickly broke apart and the figure grabbed Klarion by the neck and raised him off the floor with one hand.

For once, there was fear in Klarion's eyes. How could he fight against this man? He was so fast, and he could destabilize his spells so easily. And then he remembered the brand in his hand. It was only meant to subjugate demons, but perhaps it would work here. The energy surrounding this man certainly felt demonic.

Klarion raised the brand and began to bring it closer to the figure's chest before a hand closed around his wrist. There was a brief moment of crushing pressure before he could feel the bones in his wrist give way and he gurgled in pain. In the next instant, Klarion was thrown across the room and impacted against a wall. He cradled his broken wrist and looked up at the figure that had so soundly defeated him.

The figure bent down to pick up the brand and looked at it consideringly for a second. The golden shroud started to fade away and it revealed the man he'd fought in Gotham. The man who had beaten him then as well.

Shinobi reached into his weapons pouch and pulled a kunai knife out. It was quickly coated in wind chakra. He then threw the brand into the air and the kunai swiftly followed after it. The remains of the brand fell at his sides in two pieces while he began walking towards Klarion.

Klarion's eyes once again filled with fear and he began gathering his magic. Shinobi reached him and squatted down in front of him.

"So, last time we fought you said I was lucky, didn't you? And you've asked me twice now if I think I'm tough. What do you think?" He stared Klarion in the eyes and the witch-boy glared back. He had nothing to say. "Do you understand now? Last time we fought, I was holding back so much, I'd be embarrassed to tell anyone that you actually landed a hit on me. You get it now? I'm above you, and I'm above your little magic tricks."

"Oh, yeah!? Well-" Shinobi's gloved hand pressed against Klarion's mouth before he could finish, The ninja's other hand pressing his index finger against his own lips.

"Hush, now. I don't know what you're doing here. Guy like you, you wouldn't be interested in this space stuff. Nah, you're not the type. So, I'm gonna give you a message to send back to your bosses or whoever's calling the shots. You're done with Jason Blood. No 'ifs', 'ands', or 'buts' about it. Next time you come with your little mind control tricks, trying to take one of my friends and make him your soldier, I'm going to make it my personal mission in life to hunt you all down and make life very, _very _uncomfortable for you."

He stood back up and took a step back and immediately Klarion left in a flash of red light. There were no parting shots, no vows of revenge; Klarion the Witchboy had run like a dog with his tail between his legs and only because Shinobi had allowed it. The moment was immediately ruined by a little boy running up and saying, "That was so cool! You were all like bam! crash! boom! and that guy was all like 'No! Don't hurt me!' That was so awesome!"

Shinobi looked down at the child and ruffled his hair before turning back toward the window he'd entered the building through. It was time to return to his friends.

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When he returned to the ruins of S.T.A.R. Labs, Shinobi found his teammates surrounding the form of Jason Blood. As he'd expected when he destroyed the brand, Jason had regained his faculties quite quickly, though he seemed rather exhausted.

"Hey, Jason. Nice to see you again," Shinobi said.

"Shinobi. I assume I have you to thank for the return of my mind?"

"These guys helped, too," Shinobi said, gesturing to his teammates.

"Yes, well, I suppose thanks are in order. And I did say I would help you with your little problem, no?" Jason held his hand out for Shinobi to shake, which he took and shook vigorously.

Koriand'r also laid her hand on theirs, eager to join in. Shinobi started laughing and said, "Oh, man, I've missed you Kory."

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Seven screens lit up, one after another, in an empty dark room. Seven figures, obscured by light, appeared in those screens.

"Shinobi has proved himself to be quite a nuisance."

"He's proven himself to be an enemy of the Light."

"He displayed a very interesting power when he defeated L-7. A power that could perhaps be harnessed. Perhaps the cloning process could prove useful in this regard. And if not, we could turn him to our cause."

"Whatever the course we decide, it's clear that, as of now, he is an enemy of the Light."

A/N: So here it is. Jason Blood has been rescued, and Naruto should be getting back in touch with Kurama fairly soon. And you've also seen why I don't have Naruto just running around spamming jutsu and Sage Mode and all that jazz; it's just too easy. He's several notches above chumps like Klarion. Also, for people who keep telling me about cloning Naruto not being worth it because his power can't just be replicated through simple clones: I understand this. My intention is not to have a 'dark Naruto' running around. I've got things planned, don't worry so much. As well as people telling me that Kurama is not a true demon; I know this, I've taken a liberty here because it fits well with the story. There's literally no other reason. Anyway, thanks again to Wing Zero Alchemist for helping with this chapter. Until next time.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Before anyone asks, yes, I'm glossing right over the mission at Santa Prisca. People have been telling me that following the canon too closely is boring, and I agree. Besides, it's a boring episode and it wouldn't be much improved by me adding another two characters to it. The mission will still be taking place, but Naruto will not be there.

Chapter 10

The night of July 22nd found Naruto standing in the foyer of Jason Blood's home, dressed in full battle regalia, but with his facemask pulled down. It had taken Jason most of the previous night and the rest of the current day to begin making preparations. Tonight he would cast a spell to send Naruto's soul into the Astral Plane.

Naruto watched as Jason went about spreading paints, salts, and all manner of spell materials on the floor. The result was a rather large circle that took up most of the floor space in the foyer, filled with arcane runes and candles set at uniform distances around the perimeter.

Jason approached Naruto and presented him with a silver knife and a golden chalice. "We'll need your blood. And the demon's body. You said you had access to it?"

Naruto took the items from Jason, removed his gloves, and with a quick slice opened his palm, allowing his life run into the cup. "He and I... we're connected. Much the way you and Etrigan are. Follow?" Jason nodded and they both watched as the ninja's blood ran into the chalice. After Jason decided that they had collected enough blood, Naruto wrapped his hand with a nearby rag. The bleeding would stop in a few seconds as it had already slowed, and the cut itself would close within a few minutes.

Jason set about using Naruto's blood to put a few finishing touches on the circle. "Could you perhaps provide a sample of the demon's energy? Any bit would help to narrow down the search. The Astral Plane is a realm of infinite depth. It envelops and saturates all of the infinite multiverses. If we can't narrow down the search, you will wander the realm until the end of your days and never meet your friend."

Naruto blanched at the prospect. He had already been ripped away from one home, he didn't want to lose another. He closed his eyes and focused on pulling on Kurama's power. After a second or two, a golden fire began to coalesce in his hand. He presented it to Jason.

"Is this good enough?"

"Perfect. Approach the middle of the circle and make _very_ sure you do not disturb any of the lines. It would be quite a shame if the spell were to backfire."

Naruto tip-toed into the middle of the spell-circle, using every bit of his ninja training not to touch anything. Once he was in the center he looked at Jason for more instruction.

"Now sit cross legged on the ground. I don't know if you have any experience with meditation, but I'll need you to clear your mind. Focus only on your intent. To enter the Astral Plane and reach your friend. Do not allow any stray thoughts to enter your mind. Also, before I forget, when you reach the Astral Plane, there will only be one way to return. It will appear as an item that brings you comfort, I cannot say what. When the time comes, you'll know what to do with it."

Naruto nodded and did as he was told. He closed his eyes and began to clear his mind. It was quite easy. Training to be a sage had made this kind of thing a piece of cake.

Jason watched as Naruto sat on the ground, eyes closed, and the golden fire floating above his hands. When Naruto became unnaturally still, Jason took that as his signal to start. He started chanting a spell in Latin, begging the Earth for energy to send Naruto's soul to where it needed to go. True masters could use their own magics to accomplish this effect, and they didn't need to go through all the trouble of gathering materials and drawing up a magical circle, but Jason Blood was no master sorcerer. Adept, certainly, but not a master.

A wind picked up, blowing around the room, causing the candle flames to flicker. Jason watched as the golden flame rose until it was floating in front of Naruto's forehead. A bright light started to envelope the ninja's body. It grew brighter and brighter until Naruto was obscured and only a pillar of light remained in his place. The golden flame floated into the pillar and with a great gust of wind, everything returned to normal.

Naruto's body had slumped over and the golden flame had disappeared completely. Jason approached Naruto, paying no heed to how his feet were smudging the lines he had worked so hard to draw. The circle had served its purpose. Jason began to gather up Naruto to move him to a more comfortable place.

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Naruto wasn't aware of the instant that his soul had left his body. Indeed, he wasn't aware that anything had happened at all. Until he opened his eyes and took in the world around him.

His surroundings were hazy. Everything was blurry and hard to see, as if his vision was very badly impaired. Not only that but everything that made up the environment was in a constant state of flux. First he was in a brightly lit forest, with pink trees that had purple leaves, then he was on a mountaintop, black snow falling around him.

As Naruto stood up, the surrounding environment finally seemed to have made up its mind and settled on a grassy field that stretched out as far as the eye could see, though that was, admittedly, not very far. There was a black haze in the distance, but the flexible nature of this realm seemed to make it hard for Naruto to see anything clearly at a long distance.

Naruto looked around for a bit, wondering which direction to travel in, when he felt a tugging. It wasn't coming from any part of his body, but he could feel the essence of his being wanted him to go in a certain direction. He started to walk in the direction before his foot bumped something on the ground. He looked down and saw a book laying on the ground. It was small, with a khaki cover, that read _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. _

Naruto picked it up and knew without a doubt that this was the item Jason had mentioned. Something that brought him comfort and would open the path back home when the time came. Without further ado, Naruto tucked the book into a pouch and began walking. There was no way to gauge time here and the environment changed every twenty steps, making it entirely impossible to measure distance, so Naruto decided there wasn't much to be gained from running.

Naruto walked for what felt like an eternity and came across nothing. There were no animals, no people, the only constant was the way the world around him refused to retain one form. Sometimes he walked up a mountain, other times he was walking across the surface of an ocean, and some times he wasn't walking at all, but flying. It was a strange experience, but after a long time, the universe decided that he had reached his destination.

Naruto hadn't quite realized that the universe had stopped changing until he had gone forty steps and found that he was still in a forest. The forest was made up of the largest trees that Naruto had ever seen and the canopy their branches created blocked out the Sun completely. It reminded him of the Forest of Death.

Naruto continued walking for a while before he came across a large clearing. Not that he recognized it as such because he was confronted by a red furry wall. Naruto was bewildered for a moment before a grin spread across his face. He immediately kicked the wall and was rewarded by a growl as the immense creature turned over.

"**Who dares to disturb the slumber of - Oh, it's you."**

Kurama had turned around to present his gigantic toothy maw to whatever fool had decided to kick him, but was met by the grinning face of Naruto.

"**It's about time you showed up."**

Naruto ran forward to pat Kurama's snout before an exhalation from the giant fox blew him backwards. However, Naruto didn't appear to be offended in the least. He got back up, his stupid grin just as bright as ever.

"Man, I've missed you, Kurama! You've got no idea what I've been going through this last year!"

"**Yes, yes. I'm sure you'll regale with the whole tale. But first, do you have a way out of here? It may have been a year to you, but it feels like I have been stuck in this place for a millenium."**

Naruto nodded and reached into his pouch to pull out the copy of _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi. _"I've got just the thing."

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When Naruto awoke, he was laying in a rather large four-post bed. He sat up and looked around. It appeared he was in a room in Jason Blood's house. Jason himself was asleep in a chair by the bed, and further inspection revealed Batman lurking in a corner of the room, completely silent.

"_**What a creep."**_

_****_Naruto couldn't help but snicker at Kurama's comment. It was true, Batman had a propensity for creepiness, what with all the lurking in the shadows and intense glaring he was prone to.

Batman, having noticed that Naruto was awake, started walking over to the bed. Naruto opened his mouth to speak before Batman interrupted.

"You had a mission last night. You didn't answer your communicator."

"I had a thing," Naruto answered with a shrug. The ninja certainly appreciated everything Batman had done for him, but if the Dark Knight expected for Naruto to spill all of his secrets at the drop of a hat, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

"That's unacceptable. When the communicator rings, you're expected to answer. I won't ask what you were doing here, you probably won't tell me, but know this: whatever it is, it had better not endanger your teammates. You may be powerful, but everyone is held accountable for their own actions and for how those actions affect others." Batman turned and began walking to an open window in the room, probably his point of ingress. He reached the window before turning around. "By the way, it's been a year since you came to this reality. In all that time, I've been covering your living expenses. The time has come for that to end. You'll have to find a job or move into Mount Justice and have the League itself take care of your expenses. Have a nice day."

And just like that, Batman was gone. Naruto was stunned and could only sit there, staring out of the window. And then it dawned on him, he had to get a... _day job_.

"Wait, what!?"

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

Naruto sat outside of his apartment, watching his clones go about the task of packing his meager possessions. He didn't own much, just some clothes, courtesy of Batman, and a rather extensive stash of kunai, shuriken, and other such ninja tools that he'd amassed over the past year using the monthly stipend afforded to him by Batman. He even had a ninjato sitting around, though he hadn't the faintest idea of how to use it.

After Batman had dropped his bombshell, Naruto had come to the conclusion that moving into Mount Justice would be his best choice. He didn't have any skills or education, and the thought of working at one of those abhorrent fast food places made him seriously consider buying a gun and using it on himself. The only thing Naruto knew how to do was fight, and taking up permanent residence at Mount Justice would free him up to do just that. Of course it was obvious this was a rather transparent attempt by Batman to keep a closer eye on him, but Naruto could trust Batman not to do anything sinister with whatever information he gathered.

Naruto walked into his apartment and quickly changed into his crime fighting outfit. After he was dressed, he addressed his clones.

"A couple of you guys take this stuff over to the mountain when you're done packing, alright?"

All of the clones saluted except for one. "Why do we have to do this menial labor while you go out and have fun, huh?!"

Naruto swiftly and ruthlessly dealt with the dissenter; a kunai to the throat was enough to silence him. It was a recurring problem with his clones. Every once in awhile, one of the clones in a group would fancy itself a revolutionary and try to rile up his brothers to rise up against the original. Naruto had learned quickly that a quick death was enough to solve the problem, however temporary the solution was.

"_**Such swift and decisive punishment. We'll make a man out of you yet."**_

Naruto gave a grunt of acknowledgement and replied, _"I forgot how annoying you were."_

With the rogue clone dealt with, Shinobi jumped out of the window and took off over the city rooftops, heading towards New Troy. Shinobi hadn't reached the bridge before he was stopped on a rooftop by a strange sight. There was Lex Luthor, standing there, plain as day. He was accompanied by his pretty body guard and another figure that was dressed in a long grey trench coat with his hood pulled up over his head.

Shinobi started approaching the group before Luthor's bodyguard moved to stand in front them. The ninja stopped a distance away before speaking.

"Lex Luthor. What're you doing in this part of town? And what's with the posse?"

A smirk spread across Luthor's face before he answered. "We were here looking for you, actually. As for my companions, well, one can never be too safe, can they?"

Shinobi tensed up when Luthor said they were looking for him. Luthor was as devious as any ninja Shinobi had even known. Luthor, having seen the tensing of Shinobi's shoulders, was quick to try to allay his concerns.

"Now, now. We didn't come here to fight. Rather, we have a proposition for you."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure whatever you're proposing, I'm not gonna want any part in it. See you around. On second thought, I probably won't." Shinobi was walking towards the ledge in preparation to make his departure. If Luthor was looking for him, then the best way to foil his plans was for Shinobi to remove himself from the situation. Though it seemed Luthor wasn't just going to let him walk away.

"Don't be so hasty, Shinobi. You displayed a very unique sort of power when you were fighting that demon creature that tore through S.T.A.R. Labs. It has gained the interest of a certain group of people. Very powerful people."

"Let me guess: these people have the power to hurt me and those closest to me and whatever else you people like to threaten others with. Well, let me save you some time. I've got nothing you can threaten me with. No family, no friends, nothing. I'm gonna walk away now. You should probably do the same before you and your buddies get hurt." Shinobi continued to walk towards the edge of the rooftop before Luthor uttered one more sentence, except this time it wasn't directed at the ninja.

"Psimon, if you would?"

Shinobi was stopped in his tracks. His body was rigid. He couldn't move at all. Whoever this Psimon person was, he'd somehow invaded Naruto's mind and was stopping him from doing anything at all.

"_Kurama!"_

"_**I'm working on it."**_

Shinobi was stuck in place for an extended amount of time while Luthor circled around to his front. The smirk on Luthor's face was blasting full force. It was the smirk of a man who relished in the power he had over others. Shinobi swore to himself he would wipe that smirk of this bastard's face if it was the last thing he did.

Luthor tutted in disapproval while wagging his finger at Shinobi as though her were scolding a misbehaving child. "Now, now, Shinobi. Nobody has no one. Every being on this planet has someone or something that can be used against them. Let's say for example that team of sidekicks you've grown so close to."

At the mention of his friends, a gurgling sound was heard coming from Shinobi's throat. This caused Luthor's smirk to widen even more. "Maybe that beautiful alien vixen? What's her name? Starfire?"

"_**I've found him!"**_

As Luthor was gearing up to continue his monologue, Shinobi suddenly found his body was free and Psimon had let out a scream of terror. Well, Shinobi wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He quickly reared his head back and brought it forward in a nose-shattering headbutt. Luthor crumpled to the ground, clutching his bleeding nose, but Shinobi was already moving on.

With a flash of speed, Shinobi appeared in front of Psimon and backhanded him viciously. He heard a sickening crack as the short man flew away. It was very likely that Psimon's jaw was broken.

The ninja rounded back on Luthor only to find his body guard standing in front of him protectively. He was ready to give her the same treatment he had given Psimon, but before he could move her hand folded back unnaturally and her forearm started opening up to reveal the barrel of a gun. A gun that was pointed directly at him.

Shinobi ducked under the first shot, just barely missing having his head taken off. This would require a more creative approach. Shinobi jumped into the air, backflipping off of the rooftop.

"Mercy! Is he gone?"

The bodyguard's eye turned red, revealing it to be another cybernetic enhancement, and she proceeded to scan the surrounding area.

"He's not turning up on any scans, sir."

Luthor brought himself back to his feet and walked over to inspect Psimon's fallen form. His jaw was definitely broken and a bruise had started to form on one side of his face.

"What could Psimon possibly have found in the boy's head that would have caused him to react in such a way?"

"Sir, we should get goi-" Mercy was interrupted by the roof underneath her erupting upwards, Shinobi having appeared in the chaos. She tried to bring her weapon to bear, but was entirely too slow. A backfist from shinobi sent her flying, breaking her cybernetic eye in the process.

Luthor quickly brought his hand to his ear and spoke into a small communicator.

"I need backup!"

Alerted by the sound of Luthor's voice, Shinobi turned and was in front of the businessman in a blur of speed. He picked Luthor up by the collar of his very expensive shirt and held him off the ground, ignoring the man's feeble attempts to fend him off. Luthor was a powerfully built man, and he was taller than Shinobi himself, but he was still just a normal human.

"That guy wasn't trying to control me just now, was he? It wouldn't have taken him so long if he was. What was he looking for in my head?" He shook Luthor a bit, as if in an attempt to literally shake the answers out of him.

Luthor, even in his disadvantageous position, still found the gall to smirk arrogantly at his captor. "I wouldn't be worrying about Psimon right now, if I were you."

"Well, you're not-" Shinobi went silent suddenly, and then he turned, using Luthor himself as a human shield to take a pair of shuriken that had been flying towards him. Luthor took the shuriken in the shoulder, a minor injury, but he still yelled out in pain. Shinobi quickly discarded Luthor and faced his new adversaries, dimly registering that Luthor had landed on his injured shoulder.

Before him stood Deathstroke, flanked by two others. One was a woman in a green robes wearing a white mask that had a sinister smile stretched across it, and the other was man wearing a blue sleeveless top, black pants, and hockey mask on his face. It seemed the woman was the one who had thrown the pair of shuriken, but Shinobi decided to focus on the familiar face, or mask, that was Deathstroke.

"You come back for a rematch? You bring your buddies to help you out?" Shinobi didn't give any of them a chance to answer and moved forward in a blur of speed. It was best to take the initiative in these types of situations.

He appeared in front of Deathstroke, ready to punch him into next year, but was stopped when he noticed the detonator in his hand.

"Much as I'd love to do this, we have orders." Deathstroke pressed the button on the detonator and there was an explosion in the distance that was soon followed by the screams of a panicking crowd.

The woman spoke next. "I think you have a more pressing engagement. You should go see to it."

Shinobi gave a growl of frustration before he was gone, in a gust of wind and a swirl of leaves.

With the threat gone, the three assassins set about helping Luthor and his downed compatriots.

"Cheshire, get Luthor. You're the one that put him down with those poisoned shuriken of yours. Sportsmaster, you take Psimon. I'll grab the bodyguard. Let's hurry, Superman will probably come to check out that explosion any second now."

As Cheshire moved to recover Luthor's unconscious form, she surveyed the devastation Shinobi had wrought on Psimon and Mercy so quickly.

"Oh, he's good! I can't wait until we get a chance to play."

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An hour later, Shinobi stood with Superman back at the rooftop where he'd had his encounter with Lex Luthor and his squad. They were long gone by then, and Shinobi hadn't expected them to have remained, but Superman had insisted the ninja show him the scene. With his super powered senses, Superman had a chance to pick up on any evidence the enemy had left behind.

"Did they say what they wanted from you?"

"Luthor said they were interested in my powers, but that was obviously less true than he wanted it to look. Psimon, the short one, he climbed into my head. Tried to find something in there, but I don't know what. Don't know if he found it either."

"Luthor didn't say anything to indicate who he was working with? Nothing at all?"

Shinobi wracked his brain before it produced an answer. "He said a certain group of people had become interested in me. Powerful people. I think it's bullshit, but you can run with it if you want. I'm gonna go."

Shinobi prepared to depart before Superman's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Shinobi, we have to talk about that thing you did, back when you stopped Etrigan from rampaging through the city. That golden aura. People are starting to get interested in you. The wrong kind of people."

Shinobi shrugged Superman's hand off of his shoulder and said, "Maybe we should talk about you and Superboy?"

Superman's eyes narrowed into a glare and the corners of his mouth dipped down into a frown.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. That power, that's a personal matter. Just drop it." Shinobi made his way over to the edge of the rooftop before he turned back to Superman. "Batman says he won't pay for my apartment anymore, so I'm moving into the mountain. That's where you'll find me from now on." With that said, Shinobi fell backwards off the rooftop and was gone.

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Luthor stood in a dark room, six screens in front of him, each revealing one of his co-conspirators in the organization known only as the Light.

Vandal Savage spoke first. "Did Psimon find what we were looking for?"

"Something in Shinobi's mind expelled him before the search was completed. The boy then broke Psimon's jaw and Psimon's been unconscious ever since," Luthor replied.

Ra's al Ghul spoke next. "So the mission was a failure?"

"We don't know that just yet. Whatever was in Shinobi's head, it was something powerful enough to cause Psimon terror. We may have stumbled upon something more impressive than just his powers. We'll know when Psimon wakes."

With Luthor's piece said, Vandal dismissed the Light and their screens all went black. Luthor walked out of the room, towards his private medical wing. He was eager to know what Psimon had to report when he regained consciousness.

A/N: Well, there it is. Kurama's back and the plot thickens. Batman plays his hand to try to get Shinobi under tighter watch. Also, I'll reiterate, a clone is _not_ what I have planned for the Light to do. Please, you guys, I love you, but stop kicking a dead horse. Anyway, it's bit short, but I didn't really like this chapter anyway. Thanks, once again, to Wing Zero Alchemist for being my beta. Until next time.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Long time since the last chapter. I mostly blame E3, the release of _The Last of Us _and the fact that I got to participate in the FF14 beta_._ Anyway, let's just get back in the saddle. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 11

One week. Naruto had been living in Mount Justice for one whole week, and he was bored out of his skull. He had missed the team's last mission, and now it seemed like the bad guys had all decided to take a vacation.

Ever since Naruto's less than cordial encounter with Lex Luthor in Metropolis, Batman hadn't approached the team with any more missions, and any time the inhabitants of the mountain approached Red Tornado his only answer was some half-baked excuse before he begged off to be somewhere else. For a robot, Red Tornado could certainly weasel out of a tough situation as well as any human.

It didn't help Naruto's boredom that Happy Harbor, Rhode Island was possibly the most peaceful and idyllic piece of American suburbia that could be found in any part of the country. Crime was rare, super powered crime was nonexistent, and all of the residents were generally friendly and helpful to each other. It was the kind of thing that warmed Naruto's heart to see. That is until he came to the painful realization that such peace made for a very dull life.

And so, with no other recourse to abate his boredom, Naruto filled his days with friendly conversation with his teammates, though it was fairly forced when it came to Superboy, and training.

"_**This is pointless."**_

Naruto grunted as he continued to dodge Superboy's wild flurry of punches. Of course it was pointless. Superboy's wild fighting style and severe lack of experience basically reduced any merit that could be found in sparring with the clone to nothing.

"_Yeah, well, there's nothing else to do. Weight training's pointless if I can't find anything small enough to wear around and heavy enough to actually feel the benefit. And fighting clones is just dumb. What's the point if we all know exactly what we're gonna do every second of the fight__?"_

"_**This is just as much a waste of time as anything you just described. This boy is a berserker. Not an ounce of skill or strategy in him."**_

Naruto could certainly agree with Kurama on that one. It seemed that no matter how many times he and Superboy had their less than friendly spars, nothing got through to the clone. Superboy was a being driven almost entirely by his impotent rage.

After a final big swing by Superboy, Naruto decided it was time to end this. With blistering speed, Naruto boxed Superboy's ears. The clone reeled back in pain and shock, before a chakra empowered punch came screaming into his stomach, lifting him from the ground momentarily and causing him to double over. Finally, a rising knee to the face knocked Superboy for a loop and he ended up flat on his back. Of course, with his kryptonian invulnerability and seething anger, Superboy was back up on his feet and ready for more in no time. The clone began to charge, before Naruto's raised hand stopped him.

"Alright, stop! I mean come on, we've been here for like an hour and you haven't been able to hit me. It's ridiculous. Just let me teach you some stuff so you're not so... bad."

"I'm a living weapon! What could you possibly have to teach me?!" Superboy didn't wait for Naruto's answer before charging forward, right hand reared back for what would certainly be a devastating punch. That is if it landed at all. As Superboy reached him, Naruto sidestepped the punch and stuck his foot in the clone's path, tripping him up and sending him face first into the floor.

"I dunno, I guess I could teach you not to get completely humiliated every time you're in a fight. Exactly like I just did you to you there."

Superboy stood once more and quickly dropped into a ready stance. "My strength and invulnerability make me unstoppable. So what if you can hit me a couple times, I'll keep getting up until I win!"

Naruto palmed his face and thought, _"Jeez, is this really what I was like as a kid?"_

"_**Just as stubborn, but you at least tried to learn from your mistakes. But I suppose idiocy is idiocy. In this world and the next."**_

"_Ah, shut up!"_

Naruto quickly started dodging around Superboy's renewed assault. It seemed Superboy only respected power. Well, Naruto had power in spades.

Before Superboy could loose his next punch, Naruto preempted him with a lightning fast strike of his own. This difference between this punch and the ones before were immediately apparent to Superboy. For one, it actually hurt. And secondly, it sent him flying into the training room wall, creating a spiderweb of cracks at the point of impact. Superboy picked himself up of the floor and looked up to see Naruto gesturing at him in a come hither motion. The result was just as intended and Superboy charged blindly into more punishment.

Before the clone could enact whatever plan of attack he had concocted, Naruto blurred into motion. When the ninja reappeared, his knee was firmly planted in Superboy's face and the clone was sent flying in the opposite direction. His trajectory was interrupted by a second Naruto driving his interlocked hands down in a hammer blow upon Superboy's face mid flight. The result was a harsh meeting with the floor and an uncomfortable slide across the training room floor.

Before Superboy could gather himself and stand up once more, he was being threatened by two Narutos, both with bright blue balls clutched in each of their hands.

"You get it now? I'm more powerful than you. These are the facts. But I could make you strong. As strong as myself... as strong as Superman! If you'd just let me."

Superboy looked away from the Naruto that had spoken and seemed to consider his options. Though Naruto didn't understand what options Superboy was considering. It seemed like a pretty cut and dry deal. Finally, Superboy mumbled something.

"What's that? You're gonna have to speak up."

"I said fine!"

One of the Narutos poofed away in a cloud of smoke and the real one stood and held his hand out for Superboy to take. The clone regarded the hand for a few seconds before slapping it away and getting back to his feet on his own. Naruto interlaced his fingers behind the back of his head and grinned at the clone before speaking.

"Well, don't look so excited about it."

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

Several days later found a frustrated Naruto nursing a lukewarm cup of noodles in the kitchen of Mount Justice. The cause of his frustration was currently off doing whatever it was a clone of Superman did in his spare time.

In the few days since Naruto had started to train Superboy, the ninja had gained a new appreciation for the grievous frustration all teachers must feel when dealing with a particularly thick student. It wasn't that Superboy didn't learn, or didn't want to learn. In fact, Naruto had managed to teach the clone a few simple and effective striking techniques and a few simple throws. The problem lay in the fact that when the two of them started sparring it was like Superboy flipped a switch and immediately abandoned all form of technique or strategy. He defaulted to mindless charges and slow haymaker blows after the first few minutes of their spars.

Naruto was at a complete loss over what to do about the situation. Beating the tar out of Superboy every time he lapsed into his berserker rage didn't seem to do the trick and Naruto was out of ideas.

"_**Just throw him to the wolves."**_

"_What the hell are you talking about? He's invulnerable. Wolves wouldn't do anything."_

"_**Not the literal wolves, you dolt. Take him somewhere so he can cut his teeth on a real threat. No matter how many times you slap him around this place, there's no actual danger because he knows you would never kill him."**_

"_I guess that could work, but no one's up to anything. What am I gonna do, have him fight some mugger in an alley?"_

"_**Figure it out. I'm beyond bored of this already."**_

"_So that's that? You're just done? We're having a conversation-" _Before Naruto could finish his thought he heard a new voice coming from the doorway.

"Naruto! Hello!" There was Koriand'r, exuberant as ever.

"_**Now this is more like it. I keep telling you I like this one. A bit slow, but so..."**_ Kurama trailed off into an appreciative hum and Naruto fought down a blush as he greeted the alien princess.

"Hey, Kory. How's things?"

"_**How's things? Smooth."**_

"_Shut up!"_

"Things are good! But Megan is visiting with her uncle. I find myself - what's the word?" She cast about for a suitable word for a moment before continuing. "Bored! That is it! I find myself bored."

Naruto couldn't say he'd ever been bored with such cheer and excitement, but he could certainly sympathize.

"You and me both. There's nothing to do here! What did you used to do for fun on your planet?"

"We spent our days communing with nature, frolicking with the animals, and enjoying the tropical utopia of Tamaran." Koriand'r had a far off look in her eyes as she reminisced of times long since passed.

"_That sounds like something out of a fairy tail. How am I supposed to respond to that?"_

"What is it that you do for fun here?" Before Kurama could answer the question, Koriand'r had returned with one of her own.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in thought before answering. "I dunno about _here_ exactly, but back home I used to do all kinds of stuff. I used to train with my teammates, go out to eat with my friends, get on Granny Tsunade's nerves... All kinds of stuff." A melancholic smile crossed Naruto's face and he grew uncharacteristically silent.

"You said back home. Are you not from here? From Earth?"

Naruto shook his head and answered. "Nah, I'm from somewhere very far away. Not Earth, but not exactly another planet." The ninja seemed ready to drop into another solemn silence before he perked up. "But enough about that sad stuff! Let's go out and see what we can do about all this boredom!"

Koriand'r clapped in excitement and exclaimed, "Yes! Let us seek out the fun and vanquish this foe called boredom!"

"Yeah! That!"

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

As it turned out, Naruto and Koriand'r's search for fun really just consisted of watching television.

"_Oh, man, this is terrible! Who could watch this crap all day?!"_

"_**You're sitting in very close proximity to a beautiful girl. Try not to complain about it so much."**_

Kurama had a point. Naruto was having a lazy day, plopped down in front of a large television, with a drop dead gorgeous woman at his side. No man alive would rather be anywhere else. But Naruto wasn't just any man. Sitting idle for long amounts of time did wonders to drive him up the wall. It also didn't help that the only thing Koriand'r seemed to want to watch was some sort of boring sport that involved ten guys standing around on a diamond shaped field while one of them threw a ball at another guy so he could hit it with a stick.

Naruto looked at Koriand'r as she gazed with rapt attention at the television screen. He couldn't fathom why she seemed so interested in this game, but he knew he had to find something for them to do before he died of boredom on this couch. And like a bolt from the blue, his prayers were answered.

A panel on the nearby wall lit up and started ringing, notifying the room's occupants of an incoming call. Naruto bolted from his seat and rushed to the wall panel to answer the call.

"Hello!?" He hoped whoever was calling didn't hear the desperation in his voice.

"Naruto? Good, just the person I wanted to talk to." It was Superman on the line.

"Oh, man, I hope you have something good for me."

"Well, as it turns out, I do. There have been reports of some strange creatures causing havoc in a warehouse in New York City. They authorities have called in for League assistance, but I figure you must be going a little stir crazy being cooped up in that mountain for so long. So do you want to take this one?"

"Yes! Send the coordinates!"

Naruto turned away from the panel, a huge grin on his face. He was finally going to do something productive! He turned to Koriand'r, who had taken up a position behind him to listen in to the call, and ran over and hugged her, lifting her from the ground and spinning her once.

"Finally! Something to _do_!" Naruto set Koriand'r, though apparently it was her turn to pick him up as she repeated his actions with just as much enthusiasm. When Koriand'r set him down Naruto set off to his room to get changed before they left.

"Superboy! Come on, we're going to New York! We've got a mission!"

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK_**  
**_

Once they arrived in New York, it took the heroes a few minutes to find exactly where Superman had said these strange creatures were. When they arrived at the location, the scene they encountered was strange, to say the least.

The warehouse was in ruins. There were boxes strewn about, having been torn apart by hands that were obviously not human. By the state of door, it could be surmised that the creatures had torn through it and ripped through the contents of the warehouse in a frenzied manner before exiting through a large hole in the warehouse wall.

With nothing to be found in the first warehouse, the heroes followed the trail of destruction. They passed through four more buildings before coming across their quarry.

The creatures were certainly strange. LIke nothing any of them had ever seen before. They were human-sized, but extremely muscular, and they seemed to be made completely out of a bright white light. The light creatures had large hands, the fingers of which were tipped with sinister looking claws. They were in the process of using those claws to tear apart the contents of the warehouse.

"_**They're looking for something."**_

"_No shit."_

Shinobi didn't waste time giving orders, his teammates knew what to do. He closed the distance swiftly, knocking one of the monsters aside before moving to the next. He chained his strikes from one monster to another, dealing ruthless punishment in a single blow and moving on.

The fight was over in less than a minute. Whatever these monsters were, they were not very durable and one strike from any of the three heroes was enough to cause them to dissipate into motes of white light.

"That... was way less exciting than I thought it would be." Shinobi let out a sigh of disappointment. After over a week of boredom, his only fight was something so unfulfilling.

"Yes, they were surprisingly weak. How did they manage to cause all this damage?" Starfire titled her head in puzzlement as she pondered her own question.

"Whatever. So they were weak. We dealt with 'em. Let's just get out of here," said Superboy.

"No. Weak or not, they were looking for something in these warehouses. We can't just leave without finding out what it was." Kurama had made a good point. All of the warehouses the monsters had targeted contained roughly the same type of cargo. It was all made of metal and looked to Shinobi to be vaguely scientific. It was the kind of stuff one might find in S.T.A.R. Labs.

Shinobi set off to rifle through the piles of debris to try to get a hint of what the monsters might have been searching for, but was stopped when a voice echoed through the building.

"What they were looking for is none of your concern!"

Shinobi turned to look at the source of the new voice but was blindsided by a beam of energy that sent him rolling across the warehouse floor. He recovered quickly, using the momentum of his roll to regain his feet. Shinobi took the time to reassess the situation.

Superboy and Starfire had already engaged the enemy in the time that it took Shinobi to recover. The enemy in question was a man, wearing a black bodysuit with a white belt and white gloves. He also wore a long white cape that seemed to glow with some strange luminescence, and there was a white symbol on his chest that reminded Shinobi of the Sun. The man maintaining a glowing yellow force field that protected him from all of Superboy and Starfire's attacks.

Shinobi charged a Rasengan and leaped into the air, landing on the dome and setting to work trying to break through it. Cracks began to form in the force field before it burst in a blinding white flash of light and the heroes were thrown back by force.

Shinobi kipped up to his feet and took the chance provided by the lull in the fighting to ask this unidentified man a few questions.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here? I guess it's obvious you made those things back there, but why?"

"I am Doctor Light, and what my purpose is here is none of your-"

"Concern. Yeah, I got that."

It was obvious the good Doctor wasn't going to answer Shinobi's questions so he decided to get right back into the action. He pulled a salvo of shuriken and threw them at Doctor Light. Light's force field materialized once more, protecting him from the assault, but Shinobi was already in motion. He'd taken the chance provided by his distraction to charge two Rasengans and had closed the distance and begun busily assaulting the force field. Superboy and Starfire were quick to join in, the Boy of Steel beating on the shield repeatedly while the alien vixen fired one continuous green energy beam.

It seemed like the heroes held the advantage until a smirk spread across Doctor Light's face.

"You know, my powers go beyond shields and beams. I can also absorb energy from all sources of light!"

Doctor Light's shield grew brighter, and Starfire's beam of energy began to grow dimmer until it died completely. Before the heroes could react, the shield reconstituted itself as a glowing white ball of energy and then three beams fired from it, striking each of the young heroes in the chest.

The doctor's smirk widened at his apparent victory and he immediately began his departure. A disc of light formed under his feet and he began to rise into the air. As he floated towards the ceiling, he gather power into his hands and fired upwards, creating a large hole through which he would make his escape. It all seemed to be going in his favor, until two shuriken flew passed him and seemed to spontaneously change direction mid flight, sailing around him several times until he was snugly wrapped in a nearly invisible wire.

"Superboy!" Shinobi pulled on the wires and brought Doctor Light falling down in an arc that would make certain he collided violently with Superboy's fist. However, the doctor regained his bearings quickly, creating another force field around himself, this time spherical, and severing the wires that bound him. It was already too late though. Doctor Light's flight path continued and Superboy's punched would not be stopped.

The result was quite comical, if extremely inconvenient. Superboy punched the spherical force field that held Doctor Light, immediately reversing its momentum and sending it flying through the building's roof and off into the distance.

Shinobi pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Are you for real right now? You seriously punched him out of the building?"

Superboy shrugged and said, "Not my fault."

"Friends, he is getting away!"

Superboy and Shinobi looked at each other and nodded before they all made their exit through one of the two holes in the warehouse roof.

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

As it turned out, Doctor Light's impromptu flight had taken him over several buildings and past four city blocks, depositing him just outside of the Warehouse District.

The heroes arrived to see him stumbling away from the car he had apparently landed on, trying to dazedly make his escape down the street. The pedestrians were giving him a wide berth. Shinobi slapped Superboy across the back of the head.

"Are you an idiot or something? You can't just punch guys that hard! If he hadn't have made that force field, he probably wouldn't have a head right now!"

"Hey! You were the one that set him up for that punch! Why the hell are you blaming me?!"

"I didn't expect you to try to murder him!"

"_**You're both idiots. He's escaping!"**_

Superboy and Shinobi's argument wound down and they set off to apprehend Doctor Light. It seemed the doctor had rounded a corner and the heroes rushed off to follow him. As they rounded a corner they were met by several floating balls of light that began firing a salvo of energy projectiles as they rounded the corner.

Starfire quickly blasted the balls of light into nothingness, and pointed at the retreating form of the doctor as he rounded the next corner.

"There he is!"

The team resumed their pursuit and when they rounded the corner, they saw Doctor Light driving away in a recently stolen blue sedan. Starfire flew over to help the victim while Shinobi and Superboy began arguing again.

"You know what? This is your fault. You go catch him!" Shinobi said while pointing after the fleeing vehicle, though Light's progress was slow in the New York City afternoon traffic.

"Oh, it's my fault he stole a car?"

"It's your fault we didn't put him down in the warehouse! Now go!"

Superboy growled in anger before jumping high into the air. Shinobi tracked his movement and saw where he was going to land and groaned in annoyance when he realized what Superboy's strategy was.

Superboy fell out of the sky, landing feet first on the front of Doctor Light's getaway car. The car's hood was crushed under the pressure, and the back wheels were lifted off the ground before Superboy jumped off the hood. The car settled on the sidewalk, much the worse for wear. Superboy prepared to rip the villain from the driver's seat before Doctor Light came out by himself. Superboy reared back to punch him before the doctor raised his hands in a sign of surrender.

"I give! Please, just take me to jail!"

Superboy lowered his fist, sighed, and began dragging the doctor back to his teammates, leading him by the wrist like a scolded child. As he approached them, Starfire clapped her hands together in excitement.

"You did it! We must rejoice!"

The carjacking victim was much less impressed, however. The woman in question was quick to lay into the clone.

"You destroyed my car! I was still making payments on it! What's my husband gonna say, huh?!"

Superboy crossed his arms and scowled at her before asking, "How about some gratitude?"

"Gratitude for what? You totaled my car!"

While Superboy was being showered with insults, Shinobi tied Doctor Light's wrists together and gave him a stern look.

"I'm gonna make a call. Don't try to run away, or I'll kick your ass."

Doctor Light nodded, a look of deep sincerity in his eyes.

"This is way more trouble than it's worth. How do people do this every day?"

"You get used to it." Shinobi placed a hand to his ear and said, "Call Superman, designation 01."

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

Arthur Light sat in the back of a transport van, inhibitor collar around his neck and handcuffs on his wrists. The van was transporting him to Belle Reve Penitentiary in Belle Reve Parish, Louisiana. The two armed guards sat across from him, chatting idly to pass the time.

In Arthur's opinion, this was the best place he could have ended up after his ill-fated foray into supervillainy. He was lucky not to be dead right now. That boy in the Superman shirt was a real monster. Arthur had decided he would serve his time as peacefully as possible and use his powers for good once he was released. As long as he never had to be on the receiving end of another super powered punch for the rest of his life.

Arthur continued to sit in silence, sometimes offering up his opinion on any subject the rather friendly guards discussed, and generally counting his lucky stars that he had this second chance. That is until the tires screeched and the van was sent rolling before stopping at the side of the road.

The back doors of the van were ripped open violently and Arthur watched in dazed horror as the guards were shot, twice each. He waited for his vision to clear and took in the figure that was silhouetted by the sun at his back. He wore black and orange armor, and a mask that had only one eyehole.

"Arthur Light, my employers have need of your services."

"Oh, God! No, please, I just want to serve my time! Please!"

The man took out a small metal pellet and rolled it around in his fingers. He dropped the pellet into the van and said, "That's not an option here, Arthur."

With a hiss, the pellet started to release a green gas into the back of the van. Arthur breathed it in and his world started to go black. Before he lost consciousness completely, he heard the man utter one more sentence.

"You work for the Light now."

A/N: There it is. Kind of a filler chapter. Some interaction between Naruto, Koriand'r, and Superboy. A small fight. And more scheming by the Light. Also, before anyone asks, I know that Doctor Light started out using machines and later internalized his powers. I just made him a metahuman from the start, just to keep things simple. Hope you enjoy. Might be another two week wait for the next chapter; my dad just had surgery and I'm gonna be taking care of him for a bit. Also, thanks to WingZeroAlchemist for beta-ing this chapter. Until next time.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Okay, it's been a while. Sorry about the long wait, but life happens, you know? Let me explain some stuff before we get into it. There's gonna be some romance stuff in this chapter. I tried to lead up to it, but I might have done a bad job, and if I did, I'm sorry. I've basically tried to show Naruto's building frustration in this world and that leads up to this revelation. It says as much in the chapter itself so whatever. I also want to say that it's starting so early because I don't want some big stupid buildup and then in the last chapter they declare their love or whatever other dumb cliché. It's going to be more or less a normal relationship between two people and you know, whatever.

Chapter 12

"Did you guys know I'm a war hero?"

The team looked at Naruto in confusion. They had all returned not an hour before from a relatively uneventful patrol in New York City. It was not that there was no action to be found in New York City, but stopping a few robberies and muggings could not be considered an eventful evening by any self-respecting hero, super or otherwise. So, they returned from their boring patrol and took up positions in the common room of Mount Justice.

This day in and day out tedium had become Naruto's new normal. He would go out, fight some bad guys, although 'fight' was a strong word when the criminals could barely defend themselves against the overwhelming force of Naruto's power, and come back home to wallow in the building frustration of his new life.

"What are you talking about, dude?" Wally asked.

"For real. I ended a war. Single-handed," said Naruto. "There was a guy, a real asshole, who wanted to cast an unbreakable illusion over the world. He wanted to enslave everyone because he couldn't handle the pain of his past."

"I've never heard about this," Robin interjected as he shifted into a more comfortable position on the armchair he was sitting in.

"You wouldn't have. Not unless Martian Manhunter's been playing around in my head." Naruto stood from his position on the sofa next to Koriand'r. "But that's not important." Naruto started pacing around the room, running a hand contemplatively through his hair. "The point I'm trying to make is... I was the best ninja in the world. The best ninja that had ever lived. A war hero, the next Hokage, all of that."

"Yeah? So what happened, _war hero_?" Wally asked, resorting to his patented sarcastic skepticism to project an aura of cool nonchalance.

"_Wally!" _Kaldur scolded wally for his insensitivity. Wally had the decency to look abashed, but Naruto continued as if he hadn't noticed the clear disbelief in the redhead's voice.

"What happened is I let my guard down. I let him speak and he ripped me away from everything I've ever known. My friends, my future, my past, my dream. With a single word he put it all out of my reach. And now here I am, smacking around guys who are too weak to fight back and too stupid to ever stop." Naruto frustratedly ruffled his own hair before continuing. "What's the point of being the best if the people that helped you get there are all gone? What's the point of being the greatest, strongest, most impossibly awesome ninja that ever lived if you're the only _real_ ninja around?"

"That's... pretty heavy, dude." As always, Wally lacked tact. That was to be expected, however, and Naruto just shrugged it off and pasted a grin on his face.

"Yeah, it's pretty depressing, huh? Well, on that note, I'm gonna go to bed. Night." With a wave, Naruto left the room.

"Good job, genius! You drove him off!" Robin said.

"Well, _excuse_ me! What am I supposed to say when he starts dropping that kind of stuff on me?" Wally retorted.

"He is our friend and a part of this team, Wally. A little compassion might be a good place to start," said Kaldur

Before their argument could degenerate into childish squabbling, Koriand'r stood from her seat and flew out of the room, following after Naruto. She found him as he reached the door to his room and tackled him with a bone-crushing hug.

"I understand. The loneliness, knowing you will never be able to return to your home, realizing everyone and everything you have ever loved is gone. I understand all of it."

A small smile appeared on Naruto's face, though from the look in his eyes it might as well have been a frown. He gazed at Koriand'r consideringly for a moment before saying, "I suppose you would, huh?"

He stood up and opened the door to his room, motioning for Koriand'r to follow him inside. He motioned for her to sit on the twin bed while he took a seat on the only chair in the room.

"I'm gonna talk and you can listen if you want to, talk if you want to. I just have to get this stuff off my chest, put it out there into the world so it's not killing me inside."

Koriand'r nodded and Naruto began.

"Before I had friends and people who loved me, I was an unwanted orphan, born on the most horrible day in village history. I had nothing and no one, except for the old man Hokage. The only thing I could call my own was my own sheer will and my ridiculous inability to give up..."

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

On August 3rd, Naruto awoke to the smell of homemade breakfast wafting into his room. He took in a deep breath before his eyes snapped open and he hopped out of bed, ready to start the day.

Naruto quickly searched out a tee-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts from the plethora of clothing strewn about his bedroom floor and a quick sniff-test confirmed they were fit for wearing. He threw on the leisure wear and rubbed his face to feel the beginnings of a respectable beard on his face. He considered going at it, quick and dirty, with a kunai before his stomach made itself known with a monstrous growl. Besides, Naruto had always thought Asuma had looked cool with his beard. Maybe he could try the look out. With his course of action decided, Naruto set off toward the kitchen to see what was for breakfast and which of his housemates was doing the cooking. Though he could probably hazard a guess that it was Megan and Kory, considering how unlikely it was that Superboy would do something so nice, even for his only friends.

As Naruto walked down the halls of Mount Justice, his mind wandered to the rather long talk he and Koriand'r had had the night before. He had told her most of the story of his ninja career, focussing mostly on the parts that had to do with his friends and loved ones and his final fight with Tobi. It had taken a while, but at the end he had certainly felt a weight lifting from his shoulders. As a ninja, it should have been in his nature to keep secrets for an indefinite amount of time, but Naruto was, at his core, a free and open person.

Of course, it hadn't ended there. Koriand'r had reciprocated with the story of her own life. Or, more specifically her homeworld and how her sister had come to betray their entire race. It was heart-wrenching to hear, and the story of Komand'r reminded Naruto heavily of Sasuke's own bitter quest for revenge. Naruto could empathize completely and he had moved to her side and placed his arm around her shoulders to offer what comfort he could. They had sat that way for a while and what happened next Naruto could never have predicted.

She had kissed him.

It was soft at first, unlike the businesslike, but still pleasant, feeling for their first kiss. It was passionate and full of emotion. Naruto had been stunned at first, but he quickly reciprocated the kiss. He had never had any experience with this kind of situation, but a ninja was nothing if not adaptable.

Just as Naruto had started to get into the the swing of things, Koriand'r broke the kiss, and the awkwardness of the situation had settled over them in record time. There had been the beginnings of stuttered explanations from both of them, before they gave up and said their awkward goodbyes a Koriand'r left for her own room.

Naruto touched a finger to his lips as he walked before Kurama chimed in.

"_**I think you're smitten."**_

Naruto could almost hear the smirk in the fox's voice.

"_Well, I mean, she _is_ pretty cute." _Naruto thought, while an embarrassed smile spread across his face.

"_**Oh! And he's not afraid to admit it! However, I have to disagree with you. That Hinata girl back home was cute. This one's downright beautiful."**_

Naruto shook his head, smile spreading wider before he walked into the kitchen. Koriand'r, Megan, and Superboy were already there, the former two cooking away, while the latter sat idly at the breakfast bar on the outside wall of the kitchen, looking bored. Superboy was the first to speak.

"What are you smiling about? Weren't you all depressed last night?"

Naruto's soft smile spread into a full-fledged grin before he answered.

"Me? I'm just thinking about all the new training I'm gonna put you through today. I have to think about my victim- er, student don't I? Don't want you getting complacent, right?"

Superboy paled and dropped the subject. Naruto had really been stepping on the gas regarding their training recently. It had gotten to the point where Superboy actually went to bed sore on their training days. The massive increase in the challenge had also forced Superboy to also reign in his temper, however little he was able to, to stand a chance against the massively powerful ninja. Even so, he was still lucky if he landed so much as a glancing blow, and he knew Naruto always held back, no matter how much trouble Superboy had fighting him. However, even though the intensity of the training had been stepped up, Naruto had taken more of kind teacher approach than the tough love he had been employing before. It helped the relationship between the teacher and student immensely and Superboy now spoke more to Naruto than anyone else on the team.

Naruto looked away from his pale student, and regarded the two women of the team. Koriand'r was dressed rather skimpily, as she was wont to do, in a tight camisole and very short shorts while Megan was already in her full civilian attire, though that was likely because of her organic clothing. Naruto caught his eyes being drawn to Koriand'r's figure before she caught him looking and they both looked away Naruto with a blush on his face, though Koriand'r was much less embarrassed about showing off her body. It was the way things had always been on Tamaran.

'Oh!" Megan's head had snapped up in surprise for a moment, a blush spreading across it, before she looked back down at the stove and busied herself with her cooking.

"Something wrong, Megan?" Naruto asked.

The Martian's blush intensified before she she dipped her head lower while simultaneously shaking it.

Naruto and Koriand'r shared a nervous glance before Superboy broke the tension.

"What is going on with you guys? You're all being weird."

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Come on, breakfast is ready and I want to get the table set before the others arrive!" Megan declared before floating the food onto a cornucopia of serving dishes and floating those into the dining room. "Come on, Superboy!"

Superboy gave Naruto and Koriand'r another questioning look before begrudgingly following after Megan.

Left alone in the kitchen with Koriand'r, Naruto decided to take the initiative.

"Look, Kory, about last night-"

"I understand. It was too forward. I still don't understand human customs as well as I should-"

"It's not that," said Naruto, waving away her excuses. "Look... I guess I kinda, I dunno, like you. Jeez, this was a lot easier when I was doing it with Sakura." The last part of his statement was muttered. "Okay, I'm just gonna go out on a limb here." Naruto ruffled his own hair nervously before continuing. "I like you. Like, as more than a friend. Okay? And, I dunno, maybe we can go on a date or something sometime?"

Koriand'r grinned, but then tilted her head in curiosity. "A date?"

"You know, just us two, doing something together. A movie or dinner. Stuff like that." Naruto pulled on the collar of his shirt. "_Romantic_ stuff..." He trailed off.

Before Naruto knew it, Koriand'r had rushed at him, and his past experiences with Sakura had him bracing for a punch to the head, but he was pleasantly surprised when her arms enveloped him in a hug.

"I'm sure that would be delightful."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief, and hugged her back. They released each other and he spoke.

"Okay! Now that that's settled, let's go eat!" He quickly darted forward and kissed her on the cheek before running out of the kitchen.

When they arrived in the dining room, they were greeted by the sight of the rest of their recently arrived teammates sitting around the large dining table.

Wally was the only one to notice anything amiss. He looked at the smiles on Naruto and Koriand'r's faces and knew something was terribly wrong.

"Something weird definitely happened between you two!" Wally exclaimed while standing from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at them. The air was quickly taken out of his sails when Megan kicked his shin under the table.

"Jesus! What was that for?!"

The rest of the group laughed at his misfortune and breakfast continued with no further hitches.

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

Shinobi stood next to Superboy on a rooftop in Metropolis. After a lively breakfast, the team had gone their separate ways once more. Shinobi had grabbed Superboy and claimed they were going on an educational outing to Metropolis. Wally and Robin had roped Kaldur into a video game marathon. And, finally, Megan had grabbed hold of Koriand'r and proclaimed that they were going to have _girl talk_, although Shinobi doubted that either girl knew quite exactly what that entailed. In fact, he didn't even know what it entailed.

And so, here were Shinobi and Superboy, looking for low-level crime in Metropolis to use as an aid in the clone's training.

"Alright. Remember what we talked about. You can't just go walking around swinging for all you're worth. You're gonna take someone's head off if you keep doing that, and then you'll be fucked. The League takes a _really_ dim view of people who kill their enemies."

"Yeah, I got it, already. Let's just get this show on the-" Superboy suddenly stopped speaking and cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something far away, which he definitely was. At that moment Shinobi's eyes widened in realization.

"Hey! Earlier when I was talking to Kory, did you-?"

"Yeah, I heard. Whatever, it's none of my business. There's been what sounds like an accident in that direction." Superboy pointed off towards the bridge that crossed the West River.

"Alright, let's go!"

At Shinobi's word they were off, the ninja hopping skillfully across across rooftops as Superboy followed, though his jumps were much louder and caused the surroundings to tremble from the force of his impacts. When they reached the line of buildings that sat before the entrance to the bridge. Shinobi quickly grabbed Superboy's shoulder and held him back before he jumped onto the bridge.

"Stop. We've got to analyze the situation. Superman told me that when there's been an accident on a bridge, you have to be extra careful with your powers. If we rush in and throw our strength around we could make things worse."

As he observed the situation, Shinobi began removing his weights. He could move a car with his bare hands with some effort, but his weights would only make the task unnecessarily difficult. He placed the weights gently on the rooftop, taking care to space them out. He didn't want a half-ton in training weights to break through the rooftop and ruin some innocent person's day.

"Alright. Let's get going. I'll take that car hanging over the edge of the bridge, you grab the bus. Make sure you don't jump. The way you land, you'll probably bring the whole thing down."

With that, Shinobi disappeared in a blur of speed. When he reached the entrance to the bridge, Shinobi started moving at a more sedate speed. Carefully navigating his way through the wreckage and reaching the grey sedan that was hanging precariously over a very long drop.

Shinobi rubbed his hands together and got into position behind the car. He planted his feet, grabbed the rear fender, and pulled. He grunted with exertion and his muscles bulged in his suit as he inched backwards. Of course, he could accomplish this much more easily with the use of chakra, but he figured it was a good workout, and once he had gotten hold of the car, the people inside weren't in much danger.

Shinobi dragged the car safely back onto the bridge, and rolled his shoulders, before walking around to the driver side door. There was a family of four in the car; the father in the driver's seat, the mother in the passenger's, and two young children, a boy and a girl, in the back. The children and the mother were uninjured, but the father was sprawled over the steering wheel, unconscious. It seemed the force of the crash and the deploying of the airbag in conjunction with each other had knocked him out cold. Shinobi made sure the mother helped her children out of the car and got them to safety before he tried the driver side door.

It was jammed shut and Shinobi reached into the broken window and cut the man out of safety belt before pulling him through the opening. He carried the man over to his worried family and set him down before, checking his vitals to make certain he would be okay. Once he established that the man would live, he searched around for Superboy and found him struggling with the school bus the ninja had told him to attend to.

As it seemed like Superboy would lose hold of the bus, it was lifted swiftly into the air, Superman flying under it, carrying the children inside to safety. As he set the bus down on the bridge, Superman approached Superboy and Shinobi, who had taken the time to walk up beside his teammate.

Superman nodded at Shinobi and greeted him, "Shinobi." He seemed to just notice Superboy and greeted the clone as well, albeit quite awkwardly. "Superboy... What are the two of you doing here? I'd have thought you two would be in Mount Justice or something."

Superboy seemed to take offense. "You're _welcome_ for the help."

"Well, thanks. I'm not one to be ungrateful, but I had it handled. I've been doing this for quite a long time," Superman said and to Shinobi it sounded like the Man of Steel was being _quite_ ungrateful.

"Well, maybe you could teach me some time?" Superboy asked. There was a spark of hope in his eyes, though it was quickly extinguished with Superman's answer in the negative.

"Batman's taking care of that."

Shinobi walked up to Superman and leaned in to speak in a low voice, though he was certain Superboy could hear everything he said. "Hey, big guy, come on. Throw him a bone. He's alone here. He needs his father."

Superman, in an uncharacteristic show of anger, pushed Shinobi away, though it was indicative of the immense control he had over his strength that the ninja only moved back one step.

"I'm not his-"

Superman was interrupted by the ringing of his communication device. He immediately broke off the conversation, taking any chance he could to remove himself from this uncomfortable situation. Shinobi and Superboy heard him speak to presumably Green Arrow about some threat in a different place. He confirmed the coordinates and flew off without so much as a goodbye.

"Yeah, well, I don't need you anyway," muttered Superboy. Shinobi walked over and put his hand on Superboy's shoulder. For once, the clone didn't brush it off.

"Forget that guy, he doesn't know what he's missing out on. Besides, you've got _me_ training you. I may not be able to throw a bus across the city, but I could definitely lay that guy out. And I'll make sure you can do it too, one day."

With that said, the pair started heading back to the city proper. They still had some training to finish up, and they didn't need to be back at the mountain for a few hours yet.

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

"I mean, sure, I'll break a wrist here, a leg there, but you have to moderate it. I mean, a broken limb is simple enough, a guy can deal, but you break a man's jaw and it's torture for months. Of course these are bad people, but a little decency goes a long way. It's good for the soul."

This was the conversation the assembled team was treated to as Naruto and Superboy walked out of the teleporter. Naruto had been educating Superboy about the ethics of violence against a weaker foe, and the clone looked genuinely interested.

"So I can break their bones, but only certain ones? I think I get it."

"Yeah, exactly. You can't just go around breaking ribs and spines, that's a collapsed lung or lifetime paralysis right there. Causing lasting damage like that on these guys, it's just not fair. You also have to make sure, whenever you do break a bone, that it's a clean break. Some of these guys, they're just in bad situations and desperate to get out of them. It doesn't help anybody when you're saddling them with crippling injuries and immense medical bills."

Robin chimed in at this point, his voice heavy with incredulity. "Is this what you guys talk about together? The ethics of breaking a guy's arm?"

Naruto and Superboy looked at Robin with identical looks of confusion before replying in unison.

"Well, yeah."

Robin was about to retort before he was cut off by the arrival of Black Canary and Martian Manhunter.

"Are you all ready for training?" Canary asked, while Megan ran forward to hug her uncle.

"Uncle J'onn!" Cried Megan. Canary's question was largely ignored while everyone watched Megan's reunion with her uncle.

Superboy watched the loving exchange and turned to leave, but was stopped by Naruto's hand on his chest.

"Stay. It's training time and I'm sure you'll learn something useful."

"What can she teach me that _you_ can't? She's not as fast or as strong as you, her only power is a high pitched scream," said Superboy, with no regard to the fact that everyone in the room could clearly hear him, including Canary herself.

"I can teach you a lot that someone with powers can't. Like how to beat someone that's stronger and faster than you."

Superboy pointed at Naruto and said, "This guy is already both those things, how're you gonna teach me any better?"

Naruto palmed his face and sighed in frustration. "Just stop being so damned stubborn and participate in the training, please."

The room's floor lit up and turned into a makeshift ring that Canary stepped into while making a come hither motion to Superboy.

"Care for a demonstration?"

Superboy cracked his knuckles, walked into the ring, and stood opposite of Black Canary. He raised his fists and stood in a ready stance.

Canary analyzed the stance and turned to Shinobi and said, "You teach him that stance? It's pretty good. Where did you learn it?"

Shinobi shrugged and said, "Trade secret."

Canary let it slide and addressed the rest of the spectators.

"Now, combat is about controlling the action. Putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never _reacting_. Superboy and I will demonstrate."

She turned back to Superboy and assumed her own stance.

Superboy took the initiative and began a series of tight controlled punches. Canary seemed surprised that his technique was as good as it was (although he was no expert) and dodged a few strikes before finding an opening and abusing it. She caught Superboy's wrist when he threw a left jab and use his momentum throw him over her shoulder.

Superboy growled in anger and regained his feet. He reassumed his stance, but it was sloppier this time. He ran forward with surprising speed, though Canary remained unimpressed. She slipped another combination of punches rather neatly, waiting for Superboy to overextend himself. He soon did with a wild right and Canary took the chance to drop down and sweep his legs out from underneath him with a kick. Superboy landed on his shoulder while Canary stepped away to give him time to recover. Superboy rolled to his hands and knees and punched the ground in his anger.

"You're angry, that's good. Now use that anger, direct it-"

Canary couldn't finish before Superboy was up again, running at her with his fist cocked. There was something about getting knocked around by what was essentially a normal human woman that triggered his rage. When Naruto was smacking him around, Superboy could control himself because at least it was someone that was vastly powerful. But this woman had no super speed or strength; she was just _better _than him.

Canary saw the charge coming from a mile away; it was impossible not to, really. When Superboy reached her, she flipped over him and swept his legs out from under him again. By this point, Superboy's rage was reaching a boiling point, but he was saved further embarrassment by the opening of a holographic display showing Batman's face.

"Batman to the cave. Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying and then duplicating the powers of his opponents." The screen was then filled by an image of the menace in question. A robot with red eyes, pointy ears, and green painted legs. The image then cut to a video of said robot manhandling several Leaguers with ease. "Canary and Arrow proceeded to call in reinforcements, which proved... disastrous as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."

Wally was the first to react.

"Woah. One guy with the powers of the entire League?"

Naruto was less impressed.

"_Remind of you anyone we used to know?"_

"_**Mostly just people who've tried to kill you..."**_

"It took eight Leaguers _four_ hours to defeat and dismantle the android."

"Who made it? T.O. Morrow?" asked Robin.

"Good guess, Robin, but Red Tornado doesn't think so." Batman replied.

"The technology bears the signature of professor Ivo," said Manhunter.

A look of shock crossed Aqualad's face before he said, "Ivo? But he's dead."

"So we all thought... or hoped," replied Canary.

Batman proceeded to outline the plan for safeguarding the android's disassembled parts. They were to split up into two undercover teams and escort two real trucks that would transport the parts to two separate facilities in Boston and New York amongst four other decoy trucks. The team received their coordinates and went on their way.

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

They met in a field in Litchfield County, a place equidistant to Boston and New York and the area from which the trucks would depart. Most of the team was clad in riding leathers and seated atop motorcycles, except for Shinobi and Starfire. Shinobi was clad in his normal crime fighting suit because he refused to ride along on one of the motorcycles. He would be fine riding on top of the truck with his camouflage technique activated, and if worse came to worst he could just run alongside the moving truck. Starfire, however was not wearing the leathers because she could fly much faster than any land bound vehicle could hope to match, so riding behind the truck on a motorcycle was more counterproductive than anything else.

Shinobi sat on top of his designated truck, camouflage technique in place, listening to the idle chatter of his teammates over the mental link Miss Martian had established. He had been greatly surprised by this form of communication when he had first encountered it, but Kurama had caught on quickly enough and refrained from speaking to Shinobi when the link was active. It was an imperfect solution, but until Shinobi was ready to reveal the existence of such a powerful being to his teammates and the League at large, it would just have to do.

Finally, it seemed it was time for them to depart. The truck underneath him started up with a rumbling sound and moved onto the highway in convoy formation with the two decoy trucks. He saw his squadmates, Robin and Superboy, following fifty yards behind them.

They were quickly out of range of Miss Martian's mental link and Kurama took the chance to start speaking.

"_**This seems like obvious bait."**_

"_Yeah, I thought so too. Why not just destroy the android parts unless they're trying to draw out this Ivo guy?"_

"_**But it's a win-win situation as well. If they draw Ivo out, they can arrest him, but if Ivo doesn't take the bait, they still have the parts to study or whatever it is these humans would do with them. It's clever, but it begs the question: why can your team not be trusted with this information?"**_

"_Batman's a paranoid guy. I'm pretty sure he's still got me under surveillance, but whatever. Hopefully we'll see some action. I've been really anxious recently. I could really do with blowing off a little steam."_

"_**Maybe you can relieve some of that tension with that buxom alien vixen. You've already got the date, it's only a matter of time." **_Kurama started chuckling in Naruto's head, before he shut him out.

"_Idiot."_

Shinobi regained his focus in the middle of a conversation between Robin and Superboy via the commlinks in their ears.

"What business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?" asked Superboy.

"Obviously a lot, considering the way she handle you back there." Shinobi chimed in. "You can't always assume that you'll win because you're stronger and you can't always use your powers as a crutch."

"Yeah. I mean, Batman and I take down stronger guys all the time. It's part of the gig. Canary, Arrow, Speedy, we all had to learn that the hard way. Just cause she can't punch you across the room, doesn't mean she doesn't know what she's doing," said Robin.

The conversation was over after that. Superboy had no answers and Robin and Shinobi had made their point. They rode in a silence for a few minutes before a rustling in the wheat fields on either side of the road drew Shinobi's attention. The second he turned to look at them, a bunch of what looked like flying black and green monkeys revealed themselves and made a beeline for the truck.

Aqualad's voice came over the commlink, confirming that the other squad's truck was under attack as well. Shinobi didn't have any time to listen to the others discuss the situation. The monkeys weren't fooled by his camouflage technique for a second. They attacked him as soon as they were in range and Shinobi responded in kind, becoming a whirling dervish of monkey death with two Rasengans in hand.

He was doing well until the other monkeys on the truck caught on to the plight of their brethren. Immediately, they swarmed him, knocking him off the truck, though they did cushion his impact with their suicide tactic. Shinobi quickly recovered and disposed of the remaining damaged monkeys in time to watch the truck speed away down the road, all the while being accosted by a growing number of the robot enemy.

Shinobi stopped and closed his eyes, becoming unnaturally still. He drew on the energy of the nature around him and internalized it, entering Sage Mode rather easily. He opened his eyes, felt for the rapidly fading signatures of his teammates and took off at a good clip, doing his best to catch the truck. He could have really put on the speed, but the road was winding, and Shinobi had to see where he was going or he was liable to run into something running at such high speeds for such a long distance. He didn't have super perception like the Flash, or even Wally, so he had to keep his bursts of insane speed down to short, easily measurable distances.

Shinobi ran along, sometimes cutting through the fields, towards where he felt his friends were. He reached them in a few minutes, and it was made dramatically easier when the signatures stopped moving. What he saw was really the worst case scenario. The truck had flipped over, the monkeys had the android parts and were making off with them to parts unknown, and, as Shinobi skidded to a halt next to Robin, Superboy jumped off after the monkeys.

Robin quickly reported Superboy's unexpected detour to the rest of the team and Aqualad, being the ever present voice of reason, tried to get him to radio his position. Superboy had angrily refused before ditching his radio and continuing his pursuit.

"I'm gonna kick that idiot's ass. Hotheaded dumbass..." Shinobi said, perfectly aware of the irony of his own words.

"I think maybe I can figure out where these monkeys were going, actually," said Robin as he pulled a cord from one of his gloves and plugged it into a jack in the back of one of the downed monkeys.

Robin worked his technological magic and soon a holographic map popped up showing the location of the remaining monkeys, and the android parts, in real time.

"Oh, yeah! I'm awesome. I've managed to track the monkeys, and it seems like they're converging at one location... Gotham City."

"_That far south? M'gann and I won't get there any time soon. I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Starfire will stay with us in case we encounter anymore of Ivo's traps. Aqualad out."_

"Well, I guess that leaves you and me, huh?" asked Robin.

Shinobi crouched down in front of Robin and said, "Hop on."

Robin took a step back and shook his head fervently. "No way am I getting a piggyback ride from you, dude."

Shinobi glared back at him and said, "We don't have time for this. I can get there fast, and I can do it with you on my back. Let's go!"

Robin couldn't argue that logic and gave a defeated sigh before climbing onto Shinobi's back.

"Hold on tight."

"Do I have t-"

Robin's rebuttal was interrupted by the sudden burst of speed Shinobi had gained.

"He's out of my range by now. Point me in the right direction until I get close enough to sense him."

LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK

By the time Shinobi and Robin had reached a distance close enough to pick up Superboy's trail again, Kid Flash had caught up to them. They were running toward it before it changed direction drastically. Shinobi looked into the sky to see a speck that he was sure had to be Superboy flying through the sky and towards a building on his right. Shinobi changed direction, Kid Flash following suit and they followed the signature to an empty school.

"This is my school! Why would Superboy come here?" asked Robin.

"I don't think he had a choice," said Kid Flash. "By the way, I'm never gonna let you live that down." Kid Flash pointed at Robin's odd situation, perched on Shinobi's back like a small child getting a piggyback ride.

Robin hurriedly clambered down from Shinobi's back while said ninja chuckled at their banter.

"Let's just go, okay?!" Robin tried to fight down his embarrassment as they entered the school. They walked the halls, Robin leading the way. Shinobi had deactivated his Sage Mode, considering they knew Superboy's location and Robin knew his way around this school much better than the ninja did. Besides, they only had to follow the sounds of combat to know where Superboy was in the building.

When they arrived at Superboy's location, they found him sprawled out on a gym floor, the android standing over him about to deliver a finishing blow. Kid Flash ran forward, using his super speed to get Superboy out of danger, while Shinobi followed, charging a Rasengan and delivering it right into the android's face.

The android flew back as the ball of energy burst, crashing into the opposite wall of the gym head first.

"Oh! I'm impressed you managed to hit Amazo. Although it'll never happen again, I'm afraid," said Ivo from the bleachers as he watched the show like a fan at a spectator sport. "Soon he'll have learned all of your tricks and you'll be just as useless as Superman's disappointing son is."

"We'll see about that," Shinobi retorted. He took a ready stance as the android, Amazo, extricated himself from the wall.

"Access: Flash."

Amazo ran at Shinobi with amazing speed, emulating the Flash perfectly. If Shinobi hadn't known exactly what the android's abilities were in the first place, he might have been caught by surprise. As it was, however, Shinobi had a plan in place. The android closed the distance in less than a second and peppered Shinobi with an intensely fast barrage of punches before the ninja burst into a cloud of smoke. Amazo was then hit from behind by a pair of Rasengan held in the hands of the real Shinobi.

The android flew forward, directly in the path of Superboy, who had since recovered, and delivered the hardest punch he could directly to Amazo's face. The android flew back the way he came, Shinobi neatly sidestepping it, and was re-embedded into the gym wall.

"What was that about it never happening again?" asked Shinobi, shooting Ivo a smug smirk.

Ivo scowled, but otherwise didn't show any anger. "Amazo, kill them, priority alpha!"

"Access: Superman."

Amazo flew out of the wall once more, shooting like a bullet towards Shinobi for a second time. Shinobi smirked and readied himself to best the android once more before it called out in mid flight, "Access: Martian Manhunter."

Amazo became translucent and flew right through Shinobi, directly at his teammates. The android resolidified himself and grabbed Superboy's face in mid flight, slamming him into the wall. Kid Flash tried to help, but was swiftly knocked aside. Then the android turned its eyes toward Robin, who threw a number of explosive disks at it. It became translucent again, the disks passing harmlessly through, before it extended its right arm in a long distance punch towards the Boy Wonder.

Robin braced for an impact that never came, and when he opened his eyes he found himself in a completely different location in the gym and Shinobi in his previous spot. Shinobi capitalized on the android's assumption that it would be striking the relatively safe target that was Robin and caught the punch. Before Amazo had a chance to react, the ninja formed a Rasengan in his hand and pushed it into the unarmored elastic material that allowed the android to stretch its arms in this manner. There was a grinding sound for a second and then Shinobi released his control over the technique, causing a controlled burst of energy that severed the hand from the android completely. Amazo glanced at his missing hand but seemed undeterred.

"Access: Shinobi."

In the android's left, and only remaining, hand a ball of red energy formed spinning in a controlled chaos in a perfect copy of the rasengan. Shinobi could tell it wasn't chakra, but it was as close of an approximation as the android could produce. The android then blurred forward, matching Shinobi's own speed, and closing the distance quickly. The android's knock off Rasengan was met with one of Shinobi's own and a second one closing in on its midsection.

"Martian Manhunter."

The android's Rasengan dispersed as it became translucent and Shinobi, deprived of an opposing force, was sent tumbling through the android's body. As soon as he was completely through, it spoke again.

"Superman."

Shinobi felt a vice like grip close around his leg before he was thrown through the wall of the gym and landed back in the outside world. He lay there for a moment, catching his breath, and saw an arrow fly over him and through an open window. He followed its path back to the point of origin and could make out a blonde girl clad in green running off of the school campus and into the darkness of the night.

Shinobi shook off the weird occurrence and kipped up to his feet to rejoin the fight. As he ran back into the gym he saw that his teammates had decided to try a different tactic: attacking Ivo directly.

"Amazo! Protect your master, priority alpha!" Ivo cried from his position on the gym floor.

Amazo turned to Superboy and raised his hand. "Captain Atom." A yellow beam fired from his palm, striking the clone directly. It was a direct attack, but it served to distract the android while Robin attacked Ivo from behind.

"Anybody wanna play keep away?" Robin asked as he kicked Ivo across the gym floor.

"I'm game!" said Shinobi as he closed the distance to Ivo in a burst of speed.

"Superman."

The android fired his approximation of Superman's heat vision at Shinobi, who quickly ducked out of the way. The distraction was just in time to allow Robin to throw a batarang at the android who became translucent to avoid it. Amazo regained solidity as Superboy's fist entered his head, causing it to explode.

"Quick! Dismantle it!" Robin cried.

"Dude's got no head," said Kid Flash.

Just at that moment Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Starfire burst through the doors of the gym.

"Don't take any chances," said Aqualad.

As Aqualad and Robin began disassembling Amazo, Shinobi took a seat on the bleachers watching Miss Martian check on Superboy. Starfire joined him a second later and checked him over for injuries, though the few he had gained were already fast on the way to being healed.

"That was a pretty good fight, if a little underwhelming, all things considered," said Shinobi. "I mean Batman hyped that guy up a lot and he was kind of a chump if I'm being honest."

"Speaking of which, why didn't you just do that gold glowy thing you do and tear that guy apart?" asked Kid Flash. It was a fair point and ever since he had heard of Shinobi's strange golden aura he'd been curious of how it worked and why Shinobi didn't use it more often.

"Well, that guy copied Superman's strength, Flash's speed, and Manhunter's density shifting. There's no telling which of my abilities he might have been able to copy. Didn't want to make him some sort of unstoppable killing machine by mistake," said Shinobi, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Pfft, you're hardly unstoppable, dude. But the point still stands; this thing managed to copy Captain Atom, which means he's probably powered by some sort of nuclear reactor. He could likely match any ridiculous increase in power he saw someone else going through," added Robin.

"Oh, well. All's well that ends well, I guess," said Kid Flash. "Just wish we hadn't lost Ivo."

"You win some you lose some, I guess," said Shinobi. "Try not to dwell on it."

The team called the League to pick up the disassembled android and sat around for a few minutes, idly chatting to pass the time. The League arrived on the scene shortly and proceeded to cart of the remains of Ivo's android. As the team prepared to leave Shinobi decided it was a good a time as any to ask.

"So, Kory... about that date."

"Oh, man, he already made his move?! I knew something weird had happened between them!" Kid Flash looked on in dismay and received a consoling pat on the back from Robin.

"If it's any consolation, dude, you never had a chance."

A/N: And there it is. It's something like 7k words long, so here's a little extra length for the long wait. I would have made it longer if I felt there was anything more to write, but twenty pages is quite enough. Also, I received my first flame review for the last chapter. It's quite exciting, and the guy made an alright point. Too bad he probably doesn't read any more. Finally, I wanted to ask you readers if you wanted Naruto to name Superboy, or just keep it Conner like canon. Leave a review if you care, eh. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time.


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